The European Parliament’s committee of inquiry into spying with the Pegasus software has agreed on Tuesday to send a mission to Spain to investigate on the ground the use of this cyber-surveillance program.
The visit will take place on March 20 and 21 in Madrid, informed the president of the commission, the Dutch ‘popular’ Jeroen Lenaers. This decision was taken at the meeting of the coordinators of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the use of this surveillance program, after approving similar missions to Israel, Poland, Greece and Cyprus and deciding on the next one to Hungary in February.
The European Conservatives and Reformists group, which includes Vox, opposed the decision, forcing a vote in committee that finally endorsed the decision taken by the coordinators of the groups.
The Spanish MEP Juan Ignacio Zoido, who is the ‘popular’ coordinator, has shown his support for the deployment of a delegation of the European Parliament in Spain, insisting that there is no doubt about the «excellent work of the security forces and bodies of the State and of the Intelligence services in Spain».
«We are very proud of them and we know that they carry out their work in an exemplary manner, with scrupulous respect for the rule of law and with extensive judicial supervision,» he stressed.
For their part, the Socialists have supported the mission to Spain after understanding that the three missions originally planned to the countries most affected by the Pegasus cases, Poland, Hungary and Greece, have already been agreed, explained Socialist sources, who insist that this type of mission «should not interfere in the electoral processes of the Member States», before the local and regional elections in Spain on May 28.
Meanwhile, ERC has celebrated that finally the trip to Spain can be made, «after months of negotiations and once approved the extension of three more months of the mandate of the commission», finally overcoming the «blockage» of socialists and ‘popular’ who had refused so far.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
