Mogherini implicated in probe into alleged misuse of EU funds.
Federica Mogherini, the Italian former EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, was detained for questioning in Belgium on Tuesday as part of a major fraud investigation led by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), Belgian media reported.
The investigation focuses on alleged irregularities related to an EU-funded training programme for junior diplomats – the European Union Diplomatic Academy – between 2021 and 2022.
Police carried out searches at the European External Action Service (EEAS) offices in Brussels and the College of Europe in Bruges, where Mogherini currently serves as rector and director of the academy, and at private homes.
The probe relates to the project for the nine-month training programme for junior diplomats, which was awarded by the EEAS to the College of Europe following a tender procedure.
Mogherini, 52, was one of three people detained for questioning along with Italian Stefano Sannino, a senior European Commission official and former secretary-general of the EEAS during the period when the academy was created.
The third person being questioned is a former director of the College, whose identity is not yet known.
Prosecutors suspect that rules around fair competition and public procurement may have been breached, including the possible sharing of confidential information with the College of Europe, which won the tender to organise the academy, before the tender was officially published by the EEAS.
Mogherini is a member of the centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) and previously served as Italy’s foreign minister from February to October 2014 in the Renzi government.
Photo credit: Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.com.
