Federica Mogherini was arrested today in Brussels as part of a fraud investigation involving the College of Europe and the European External Action Service (EEAS), Belgian media report.
Izvor: Corriere della Sera, Politico
EPA/STEPHANIE LECOCQ
Mogherini is currently the Rector of the College of Europe and previously served as the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs.
In addition to her, the Director of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf, Stefano Sannino, has also been arrested.
As Politico reported earlier today, Belgian authorities have detained a total of three suspects and carried out raids at the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the College of Europe over an alleged fraud related to the establishment of the academy for training diplomats.
The raids were carried out at the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and with the approval of the Belgian police, taking place at the EEAS in Brussels, the College of Europe buildings in Bruges, and private residences, the EPPO said in a statement.
The EEAS is the EU’s foreign policy arm, and until 2019, it was headed by former European Commission Vice-President Federica Mogherini.
She has been the Rector of the College of Europe, a training ground for future EU officials, since 2020.
The Belgian newspaper L’Echo reported that Mogherini is in custody, but the College of Europe declined to comment.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office stated that it has “strong suspicions” that the rules on “fair competition” were violated when the EEAS awarded the tender for establishing the diplomatic academy to the College of Europe.
The investigation focuses on whether the college was informed about the criteria for the selection procedure before the official notice was published.
An EEAS official, speaking anonymously to provide an open account, said that the raids were carried out in the administrative building in Brussels, not in the main building at the Schuman roundabout.
Employees were asked to leave the premises and to leave the doors and furniture of their offices unlocked.
A senior EU official told Politico that the raids are linked to an investigation that began before Kaja Kallas assumed office as head of the bloc’s foreign policy branch.
European Commission spokeswoman Anitta Hipper confirmed that police carried out a raid at the EEAS on Tuesday as part of an “ongoing investigation into activities that took place… during the previous mandate,” meaning before Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was reappointed in December 2024.
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