When questioned on the Monica Semedo affair during Friday's press conference, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel reacted with a certain reluctance at first. He explained on several occasions that he had not read the 100-page report that had led to the President of the European Parliament to sanction the liberal MEP at the beginning of the week.
Monica Semedo has been suspended from her duties for 15 days and deprived of her parliamentary allowances for the same period for moral harassment of her three parliamentary assistants. The three had quit together last year.
The Prime Minister condemned the acts and clarified that this is not a trivial offence, as such misconduct is condemned at work every day. Mobbing is reprehensible, he explained, who did not try to minimise the case and became more and more decisive as the explanations went on.
Mrs Semedo had previously hinted at conflict at the beginning, but Xavier Bettel continued by affirming that Mr Sassoli, President of the European Parliament, must have had a good reason to sanction her. Where there is smoke, there is fire, he concluded.
In his opinion, the case is clear, and she must learn the lessons for herself, implying that her punishable actions do not at all fit in with the line defended by her party. Xavier Bettel and his party strongly condemn what happened.
He went to visit her, as is done between acquaintances, and found Mrs Semedo overwhelmed by what happened. This was an opportunity for the Prime Minister to tell her that what has happened is wrong, and that he does not accept what has happened.
However, Xavier Bettel also recalled that she apologised, which is a first step in the right direction.
