Fulvio Martusciello, head of Italy’s EPP delegation, can now be investigated by Belgian authorities probing cash-for-influence allegations linked to the Chinese tech giant.
The European Parliament voted 344-234 to lift the immunity of Italian MEP Fulvio Martusciello, head of Italy’s EPP delegation, allowing Belgian prosecutors to investigate him in the Huaweigate bribery probe. The scandal involves alleged cash payments from Huawei lobbyists to MEPs for political support on 5G policy.TL;DR
The European Parliament voted on Tuesday to lift the parliamentary immunity of Fulvio Martusciello, clearing the way for Belgian prosecutors to pursue bribery allegations linked to Chinese tech giant Huawei. The vote was 344 in favour, 234 against, with 25 abstentions.
Martusciello, an Italian MEP from Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party and head of the Italian national delegation within the EPP Group Bureau, is one of the most senior figures to be drawn into the “Huaweigate” corruption scandal. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Belgian prosecutors allege that Huawei lobbyists paid cash to sitting MEPs in exchange for political support, including adding their names to letters defending the company as it faced growing pressure across Europe over 5G security risks. The payments were allegedly channelled through Valerio Ottati, Huawei’s EU public affairs director, whom investigators consider a central figure in the scheme.
Martusciello has said that thousands of euros deposited into his Belgian bank account were reimbursements from a former parliamentary aide, not bribes. No formal criminal charges have been filed against him, and the immunity waiver allows Belgian authorities to investigate, not convict.
The investigation, led by Belgium’s federal prosecutors, has grown steadily since raids on Huawei’s EU office and 21 other addresses across Belgium and Portugal in March 2025. Five people have been charged with offences including active corruption, forgery, money laundering and involvement in a criminal organisation.
Around 15 current and former MEPs are reportedly on investigators’ radar. The alleged bribes included cash payments of up to €25,500, costly football tickets, and trips to China.
The Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee had earlier voted to lift immunity for two other MEPs in the probe, Bulgarian centrist Nikola Minchev and Maltese Socialist Daniel Attard, while narrowly rejecting the request for Italian EPP member Salvatore De Meo by 18 votes to 17. Martusciello’s case had been postponed to a later committee meeting before reaching the plenary directly.
The corruption probe is unfolding alongside a parallel crackdown on Huawei’s market access. The Commission formally recommended in May that all 27 member states remove Huawei and ZTE equipment from their connectivity infrastructure, broadening the original 5G-specific advice to cover the full telecoms stack.
Beijing has lobbied aggressively against the proposed ban, commissioning a KPMG study that estimated the cost to European operators at €432 billion. China has threatened broad retaliation if the ban proceeds, targeting European exports across sectors from agriculture to automotive.
The bribery allegations put a sharper edge on those figures. If prosecutors can show that Huawei funded political support inside the institution responsible for approving EU cybersecurity legislation, it undermines the company’s argument that any equipment ban is disproportionate.
Huawei has said it is cooperating with Belgian authorities. It already faces scrutiny over allegations that its equipment enabled eavesdropping on 6.5 million Dutch mobile users, a claim the company denied.
Tuesday’s vote does not determine Martusciello’s guilt. It determines whether Belgian investigators can do their job without a parliamentary shield standing in the way.
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