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Scandals in European politics

A corruption scandal in Spain has sparked the ouster of its prime minister Mariano Rajoy. Here are some of the other European scandals to have cost the scalps of senior politicians over the past decade:

– Slovakia: slain journalist –

In February 2018, the double murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee, who had been probing alleged ties between top politicians and the Italian mafia, plunged Slovakia into a political crisis.

The prime minister Robert Fico resigned in March after the public backlash over the killings, followed a month later by the interior minister and the head of the police.

– Romania: corruption –

A deadly nightclub blaze drew tens of thousands of protesters into the streets in Bucharest in October 2015, forcing former Social Democrat prime minister Victor Ponta to resign.

In May 2018, Ponta was cleared of fraud and other charges by the country’s high court after a corruption investigation.

– Slovenia: arms deal –

The centre-right administration of premier Janez Jansa, accused of irregularities in his tax declarations, lost a vote of confidence in February 2013 after only a year in office.

A few months later, a court found Jansa guilty of bribery in a massive arms deal signed while his government was in power. He was sentenced to two years in jail.

– Czech Republic: mistress –

In June 2013, the then centre-right prime minister Petr Necas was forced to resign after being implicated in a corruption and abuse of power scandal involving his top aide and mistress. Prosecutors have said they will not file charges.

– Germany: 700-euro question –

Germany’s leaders have come under close scrutiny since former chancellor Helmut Kohl was fined and forced to quit his post as honorary chairman of the Christian Democratic Union, after he admitted to managing secret funds for the party in the 1990s.

Christian Wulff resigned as German president in February 2012 following an accusation of influence peddling. He was later cleared of accepting payments that amounted to some 700 euros ($744) when he was state premier of Lower Saxony.

– Italy: Berlusconi saga –

Three-time prime minister between 1994 and 2011, Silvio Berlusconi has faced a string of legal cases.

Only corporate tax fraud, however, has led to a definitive conviction, which triggered Berlusconi’s expulsion from the Senate and a ban on taking part in subsequent elections.

But in May 2018, an Italian court lifted the ban on Berlusconi running for office, potentially clearing the way for yet another political comeback.

– Belgium: Fortis bank

After coming to power in March 2008, Yves Leterme was forced to resign as prime minister just months later after being accused of putting pressure on the judiciary over the rescue of Fortis bank.

He returned to government as foreign minister under Herman Van Rompuy but left after an investigation opened in 2009 over the Fortis accusations.

He again served as prime minister from 2009 to 2011.

– Britain: expenses scandal –

From 2004 to 2009, more than half of British MPs misused their expenses, according to an official audit in February 2010 that ordered them to repay 1.1 million pounds (1.17 million euros, $1.25 million).

The probe, which followed revelations by the Daily Telegraph, said lawmakers filed claims for loans on second homes, gardening and cleaning expenses, and in one notorious case, a duck house in a garden pond.

The scandal forced the resignation of the interior minister at the time, Jacqui Smith, and Michael Smith, the Speaker of the House of Commons — the top official in Britain’s elected lower chamber.

fm-kd/eab/nla