Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Belgian police detained the EU’s former top diplomat Federica Mogherini and a senior Brussels official on Tuesday in a probe into suspected fraud over contracts to train junior officials.
Three suspects were taken into custody after the raids on the EU’s diplomatic arm in Brussels and the College of Europe in Bruges, including Mogherini, who was the bloc’s high representative for foreign affairs from 2014-2019.
Stefano Sannino, a director-general at the European Commission, was also taken into custody, according to three people briefed on the investigation.
The raids were ordered by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and were prompted by “strong suspicions” of fraud in a 2021-2022 decision by European External Action Service (EEAS) to award the EU Diplomatic Academy to the college, the EPPO said.
After leading the EEAS, former Italian foreign minister, Mogherini became rector of the College of Europe in September 2020 and director of the diplomatic academy in August 2022. Sannino was secretary-general of the EEAS from 2021-2024 before becoming director-general of the commission’s Middle East, north Africa and Gulf department.
Both Sannino and Mogherini did not respond to requests for comment from the FT.
The searches by Belgian police took place at the EEAS in the heart of Brussels’ EU quarter, several buildings of the College of Europe and at the houses of suspects, EPPO said in a statement. The investigation was supported by the European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf), it added.
“Prior to the searches, the EPPO requested the lifting of the immunity of several suspects, which was granted,” the prosecutor’s office said, referring to the legal protections given to EU officials when performing their duties.
A spokesperson for the commission confirmed the police raid on the EEAS headquarters but declined to comment when asked if any commission employees had been detained.
The EEAS is now led by former Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas. The commission said the investigation began before she was appointed.
The College of Europe did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Belgian police and Olaf declined to comment on an ongoing case.
The EPPO said the investigation, which was first reported by Euractiv, focuses on whether the college or its representatives were given prior notice of the EEAS tender to establish the diplomatic academy before its official publication.
“There are strong suspicions that, during the tendering process for the programme, article 169 of the Financial Regulation related to fair competition was breached and that confidential information related to the ongoing procurement was shared with one of the candidates participating in the tender,” the EPPO said.
The EPPO said the facts under investigation “could constitute procurement fraud, corruption, conflict of interest and violation of professional secrecy. The investigation is ongoing to clarify the facts and assess whether any criminal offences have occurred.”
