Ex-EU Diplomat Mogherini Held in Funding Misuse Probe

By Staff, Agencies

Former EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini is being held by authorities as investigators probe alleged misuse of European Union funds, according to Belgian and French media.

Police have conducted searches at the European External Action Service (EEAS) in Brussels—where Mogherini served as High Representative from 2014 to 2019—as well as at the College of Europe in Bruges, where she has been rector since 2020.

Documents were seized and three people detained on suspicion of procurement fraud, corruption, and conflict of interest, Reuters and Euractiv reported.

Belgian outlet L’Echo said Mogherini was among those detained. Stefano Sannino, former EEAS secretary-general under Mogherini and now a senior European Commission official, was also taken into custody, along with an employee from the College of Europe’s executive education department.

The investigation centers on the College of Europe’s €3.2 million purchase of a Bruges property in 2022, shortly before the institution received €654,000 in EEAS funding. Authorities suspect the college may have had access to confidential information that compromised fair competition.

Prosecutors are reviewing whether college officials had prior knowledge of a public tender for the EU Diplomatic Academy, a major training program for European diplomats funded by the EEAS.

Founded in 1949, the College of Europe is widely regarded as the EU’s elite training institution, producing many senior officials across European institutions. No formal charges have been filed.