MEPs call for Libertas ‘signatories’ to be quizzed

EUROPEAN Parliament members want all those purported to have supported Libertas in its bid for EU funding to be interviewed following doubts about a signatory on the application for party recognition.

One of the seven signatories required to qualify for recognition yesterday emphatically told the Irish Examiner that he was not a member of the group created by businessman Declan Ganley.

Igor Grazin, a member of the Estonian parliament, said: “No, I am not a member of Libertas. That is my final word. No.”

He had earlier notified the secretary general of the European Parliament of this and added that, if he had signed anything, it was never his intention that it would lead to the creation of a political party.

At the same time, a Bulgarian newspaper quoted a second person, Bulgarian parliament member Mincho Kuminev, as saying he had not signed up to the party either.

The €200,000 funding Libertas was told on Monday it was to receive from the parliament was put on hold until its application is investigated.

Fine Gael MEP Jim Higgins said: “All seven signatories must be called on to give oral evidence of their intentions, together with Declan Ganley as leader of Libertas. That is the only way we will establish the truth.”

Under EP rules, parties need members from seven different EU countries to qualify for funding, and they cannot be members of another party. Mr Grazin’s Estonian People’s Party, which has a member in the EP, is a member of the Liberals.

Libertas hit back at the criticism yesterday by publishing on the website Flickr photographs of what they said was Mr Grazin’s signed Libertas membership form, his passport and Estonian parliamentary member’s pass.