Former EU and Italian foreign diplomat Federica Mogherini detained in probe of procurement fraud

Then-European Union foreign minister Federica Mogherini and her New Zealand counterpart, Winston Peters at Parliament in August 2018. Mogherini served as the EU’s chief diplomat from 2014 to 2019. Herald photo / Mark Mitchell

Authorities in Belgium detained former European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini today, Belgian media reported, after police raided offices of the EU’s diplomatic service as part of a fraud investigation.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office, which investigates crimes involving EU funds, said three suspects were detained in the conflict-of-interest probe involving the bloc’s foreign policy arm, the European External Action Service (EEAS).

The prosecutor’s office announced it was investigating alleged corruption in awarding a tender for running an EU-funded training programme for junior diplomats across the 27-nation bloc in 2021 and 2022.

“The investigation is ongoing to clarify the facts and assess whether any criminal offences have occurred,” it said.

It did not name Mogherini, but Belgian and Italian media reported that the former Italian foreign minister was taken into custody, along with two others, including a current EEAS official.

The detention followed raids by Belgian police at EEAS offices in Brussels, and at the College of Europe, a university in the Belgian city of Bruges that Mogherini leads as rector and where many EU officials receive training.

After a stint as Italian foreign affairs minister under Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Mogherini served as the EU’s chief diplomat from 2014 to 2019.

The ongoing investigation concerns the European Union Diplomatic Academy, a nine-month training programme for diplomats in the bloc. The training project was awarded to the College of Europe, where Mogherini has served as rector since 2020, by the EU diplomatic arm she used to run.

The prosecutor’s office cited “strong suspicions” that “confidential information” on the procurement process was shared with one of the candidates vying for the project.

It said the probe focused on whether College of Europe representatives were informed about criteria of the tender procedure and believed they would be awarded the project before it was public.

This “could constitute procurement fraud, corruption, conflict of interest and violation of professional secrecy”, the statement said. It also said it had requested the lifting of the immunity of several suspects.

EU foreign affairs spokeswoman Anitta Hipper confirmed that police raided the EEAS as part of an “ongoing investigation of activities that took place under previous mandates”. She said the diplomatic service was “fully co-operating” with authorities but declined to identify the suspects.

The College of Europe confirmed in a statement that authorities had searched its campus in Bruges. The school also said it was co-operating with the authorities and “remains committed to the highest standards of integrity, fairness, and compliance”.

- Ellen Francis contributed to this report.

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