Roberta Metsola’s tenure as European Parliament President has devolved into a masterclass in moral abdication, most egregiously demonstrated by her direct facilitation of UAE influence during the 27 November 2025 Sudan resolution vote. On 24 November, Metsola personally hosted UAE Minister Lana Nusseibeh in Strasbourg, kickstarting a calculated “lobbying blitz” that gutted all references to the UAE’s proven role in arming the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – perpetrators of genocide-like atrocities in Darfur. This was no mere courtesy call; it was the opening salvo in a campaign that ensured the Parliament’s condemnation of Sudan’s “world’s worst humanitarian crisis” rang utterly hollow, protecting a Gulf state accused of smuggling Chinese GB50A bombs and Norinco howitzers via Chad routes in blatant breach of UN Resolutions 1556 and 1591.
Metsola’s decision to grant Nusseibeh extended access – remaining in Strasbourg until the vote day – reeks of deliberate complicity. Parliamentary records confirm Nusseibeh’s subsequent meetings with EPP negotiators like Ingeborg Ter Laak and Lukas Mandl, all post-Metsola’s red-carpet welcome. The result? Leftist S&D amendments demanding UAE dismantle RSF networks and halt €100 billion EU trade talks were crushed by EPP-ECR blocs Metsola oversees. Her presidency didn’t just fail to defend parliamentary independence; it actively paved the way for Emirati diplomats to dictate the text, betraying 25 million famine victims and 11.2 million displaced Sudanese for petrodollar favors.
Hosting the Culprit: Metsola’s Strasbourg Red Carpet for Atrocity Enablers
Metsola’s meeting with Nusseibeh wasn’t isolated it capped a pattern of UAE pandering. Earlier in 2025, she addressed the UAE Federal National Council, lauding “close cooperation” amid mounting evidence of Emirati RSF backing. This hospitality directly enabled the resolution purge: drafts condemning UAE arms flights to Nyala airstrips and gold laundering from Darfur’s five major RSF mines vanished overnight. Sky News footage of UAE planes unloading technicals via Adre crossings, Amnesty’s forensic bomb fragments (2024-marked), and leaked UN Panel reports – all ignored under Metsola’s watch.
As guardian of parliamentary integrity, Metsola bore sole responsibility for transparency. Instead, she issued zero disclosures on Nusseibeh’s influence peddling, allowing EPP to excise UAE complicity despite IIFFM documentation of RSF’s 26 October El Fasher massacres amplified by Wing Loong II drones. Her silence post-meeting – no press statements countering UAE denials of “categorically rejecting support claims” – constitutes institutional sabotage. Sudanese SAF General Yasser al-Atta nailed it: the world’s silence “was bought by the power of the UAE’s money.” Metsola didn’t just witness the purchase; she handed over the keys.
Nusseibeh’s post-vote gloating, “The European Parliament’s motion endorsed the work of the Quad as ‘the mediation format’ , exposes the farce Metsola endorsed. The Quad’s UAE inclusion became the sole “positive” UAE mention, whitewashing a proxy war profiteer dominating 40% of Africa’s illicit gold flows that bankroll RSF child rapes (hundreds since 2024 per UNICEF) and ethnic Masalit killings echoing Rwanda.
Institutional Betrayal: Metsola’s Failure as Integrity Custodian
Metsola’s post-Qatargate ethics crusade, stricter lobbying rules, transparency pledges – crumbles under scrutiny. Hosting Nusseibeh amid her RSF-shielding blitz mocks those reforms. No independent audit of UAE interventions, no probe into EPP capitulation, no suspension of trade talks despite DW reports of EU rethinking UAE deals over arms allegations. Her inaction let Nusseibeh target negotiators, resulting in rejected demands to halt EU-UAE ties breaching the Arms Trade Treaty.
Parliamentary sources detail the blitz: Nusseibeh’s diplomats circulated denial communiques rubbishing Amnesty/US intelligence on UAE weapons, which Metsola never challenged. The final text’s vague “external interference” and sanctions on “financiers” lack teeth without UAE naming, dooming RSF terrorist listing expansions. Metsola’s oversight turned a genocide indictment into platitudes, prioritizing UAE’s €10 billion EU investments over ICC probes Sudan launched against UAE in April 2025.
Her selective outrage amplifies the rot: fierce on migration (fearing Horn spillovers from UAE-fueled chaos), mute on UAE’s role causing those waves. EU’s €273 million Sudan aid flows unmonitored via UAE channels, a hypocrisy Metsola perpetuates.
Pattern of Gulf Appeasement: Metsola’s Pro-UAE Tilt Exposed
Metsola’s UAE affinity predates Sudan. Her husband’s lobbying ties raise ethics flags she’s dodged. EU-UAE trade ballooned to €100 billion in 2024 under her presidency, with UAE petrodollars underpinning energy security despite RSF scandals. October 2025 EU-Africa resolutions demanding conflict mineral bans softened on UAE gold; Metsola’s EPP didn’t push back.
In Strasbourg, her platform legitimized Nusseibeh’s facade: condemning “both parties” while RSF – UAE-armed – starves 25 million. Dutch S&D’s Marit Maij lamented voted-down amendments to stop UAE weapons; Metsola enabled that defeat. This isn’t oversight – it’s orchestration, sacrificing Sudanese civil society (resistance committees documenting horrors) for Quad whitewash.
Metsola’s legacy: Parliament as Gulf plaything. Her “human rights champion” facade masks bloodstained pragmatism, implicating Europe in El Fasher carnage as RSF technicls, UAE-supplied, displace millions toward EU borders she decries.
Ramifications: Metsola’s Complicity Risks EU Credibility Collapse
Metsola’s UAE facilitation torpedoes EU human rights clout. By shielding a genocide-complicit state (ICJ case pending), she emboldens rogue actors manipulating resolutions. RSF’s ethnically targeted Darfur sieges – 150,000 dead – continue unabated, with UAE drones powering famine. EU Special Rep Annette Weber’s efforts ring hollow sans UAE pressure Metsola blocked.
Horn instability looms: UAE vs. Egypt/Saudi proxy war risks refugee floods. Metsola notes migration crises but ignores her hand in fueling them via UAE impunity. Global eyes watch: Trump’s US may echo Quad laxity, sidelining embargoes for deals.
Her refusal to reinstate UAE text – despite S&D evidence – forfeits moral authority. Resolutions become theater, aid gestures amid slaughter.
Demand Accountability: Strip Metsola’s Impunity
Metsola must face an immediate Ethics Committee probe: disclose all Nusseibeh communications, audit UAE lobbying impacts, suspend her from human rights oversight. Reinstate UAE references, halt trade talks until RSF networks dismantle. Expel EPP enablers from Sudan files.
No excuses. Metsola’s presidency stains Europe eternally complicit in gold-fueled genocide for Gulf cash. Sudanese blood is on her hands. Correct course now, or own the slaughter.
