EU Fraud Probe Rocks Brussels as Former Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini, Senior Diplomat Accused of Corruption

|By Adejumo Adekunle

A sweeping EU fraud investigation has jolted Brussels after former EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and two senior officials were formally accused of procurement fraud, corruption, conflict of interest, and breaching professional secrecy, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) announced on Wednesday.

The trio — detained on Tuesday and later released — are under investigation for allegedly manipulating EU-funded training programmes for junior diplomats. EPPO said they were freed because they posed no flight risk, but emphasized that the inquiry remains active.

Sources confirmed to Reuters that one of the detainees is Stefano Sannino, a top EU diplomat and former secretary-general of the European External Action Service (EEAS). EPPO identified the other suspects as a senior official of the European Commission and a senior staff member at the College of Europe in Bruges.

Mogherini, who served as the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs between 2014 and 2019 before becoming rector of the College of Europe in 2020, could not be reached for comment. Sannino also remained unavailable.

The arrests followed coordinated raids on the EU diplomatic service in Brussels, the College of Europe, and private residences linked to the suspects. The revelations have sent shockwaves through EU diplomatic circles, where Mogherini and Sannino are prominent figures.

EPPO stressed that “all persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty by the competent Belgian courts of law.”