BRUSSELS: The EU’s former foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has been charged along with two others in a probe into “fraud and corruption” over contracts to train future European diplomats, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Mogherini, who was high representative for foreign affairs from 2014 to 2019 and now leads the College of Europe graduate school, was arrested on Tuesday following raids at the elite school and on the premises of the EU’s EEAS diplomatic service.
The 52-year-old Italian was detained for questioning along with the school’s deputy rector as well as Stefano Sannino, a senior EU official who was secretary general of the European External Action Service from 2021 to 2024.
After being questioned by Belgian police, “the three individuals were formally notified of the accusations against them,” said the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) which is overseeing the probe.
“The accusations concern procurement fraud and corruption, conflict of interest and violation of professional secrecy,” it added in a statement.
Not considered a flight risk, all three were released from custody overnight, a spokesperson for the prosecutors’ office said.
The EPPO is investigating suspicions of fraud related to an EU-funded training scheme for junior diplomats, known as the European Union Diplomatic Academy.
The program was awarded by the EEAS to the College of Europe in Belgium in the period 2021-2022, and the probe focuses on whether the tender process was skewed to favor the school.
Mogherini has headed the College of Europe since 2020, and in 2022 also took the helm of the EU Diplomatic Academy.
The contract involved was worth some €650,000 ($750,000), according to a European source.
Carried out by Belgian federal police at the EPPO’s request, Tuesday’s searches targeted the College of Europe campus in the Belgian city of Bruges, the Brussels premises of the EEAS and the houses of suspects.
The European Commission has confirmed raids at the EEAS, saying the probe focused on “activities that took place before in the previous mandate.”
The current EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, took over the post a year ago from Mogherini’s successor, Josep Borrell.
The College of Europe has vowed to “fully cooperate” with the probe, stressing its commitment “to the highest standards of integrity, fairness, and compliance — both in academic and administrative matters.”
The EPPO is the independent public prosecution office of the EU, responsible for investigating crimes against the bloc’s financial interests.
The probe, which is being led by a judge in Western Belgium, is also supported by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), to which the accusations were first reported.
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EU ex-top diplomat charged in ‘fraud and corruption’ probe
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EU ex-top diplomat charged in ‘fraud and corruption’ probe
- EU’s former foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini was arrested on Tuesday following raids at the elite College of Europe graduate school
Pakistan combing for perpetrators after deadly separatist attacks
- Around a dozen sites where the attacks took place — including the provincial capital Quetta — remained sealed off
- The Baloch Liberation Army, the province’s most active militant separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attacks
QUETTA, Pakistan: Pakistan forces were hunting on Sunday for the separatists behind a string of coordinated attacks in restive Balochistan province, with the government vowing to retaliate after more than 120 people were killed.
Around a dozen sites where the attacks took place — including the provincial capital Quetta — remained sealed off, with troops combing the area a day after militants stormed banks, jails and military installations, killing at least 18 civilians and 15 security personnel, according to the military’s count.
At least 92 militants were also killed, the military added, while an official said that a deputy district commissioner had been abducted.
Mobile Internet service across the province has been jammed for more than 24 hours, while road traffic is disrupted and train services suspended.
After being rocked by explosions, typically bustling Quetta lay quiet on Sunday, with major roads and businesses deserted, and people staying indoors out of fear.
Shattered metal fragments and mangled vehicles litter some roads.
“Anyone who leaves home has no certainty of returning safe and sound. There is constant fear over whether they will come back unharmed,” Hamdullah, a 39-year-old shopkeeper who goes by one name, said in Quetta.
The Pakistan military said it was conducting “sanitization operations” in the areas that had been targeted in Saturday’s attacks.
“The instigators, perpetrators, facilitators and abettors of these heinous and cowardly act... will be brought to justice,” it said in a statement Saturday night.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the province’s most active militant separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement sent to AFP.
The group said it had targeted military installations as well as police and civil administration officials in gun attacks and suicide bombings.
Saturday’s attacks came a day after the military said it killed 41 insurgents in two separate operations in the province.
Pakistan has been battling a Baloch separatist insurgency for decades, with frequent armed attacks on security forces, foreign nationals and non-local Pakistanis in the mineral-rich province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
Pakistan’s poorest province despite an abundance of untapped natural resources, Balochistan lags behind the rest of the country in almost every index, including education, employment and economic development.
Baloch separatists have intensified attacks on Pakistanis from other provinces working in the region in recent years, as well as foreign energy firms that they believe are exploiting its riches.
The separatists attacked a train with 450 passengers on board last year, sparking a two-day siege during which dozens of people were killed.
Around a dozen sites where the attacks took place — including the provincial capital Quetta — remained sealed off, with troops combing the area a day after militants stormed banks, jails and military installations, killing at least 18 civilians and 15 security personnel, according to the military’s count.
At least 92 militants were also killed, the military added, while an official said that a deputy district commissioner had been abducted.
Mobile Internet service across the province has been jammed for more than 24 hours, while road traffic is disrupted and train services suspended.
After being rocked by explosions, typically bustling Quetta lay quiet on Sunday, with major roads and businesses deserted, and people staying indoors out of fear.
Shattered metal fragments and mangled vehicles litter some roads.
“Anyone who leaves home has no certainty of returning safe and sound. There is constant fear over whether they will come back unharmed,” Hamdullah, a 39-year-old shopkeeper who goes by one name, said in Quetta.
The Pakistan military said it was conducting “sanitization operations” in the areas that had been targeted in Saturday’s attacks.
“The instigators, perpetrators, facilitators and abettors of these heinous and cowardly act... will be brought to justice,” it said in a statement Saturday night.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the province’s most active militant separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement sent to AFP.
The group said it had targeted military installations as well as police and civil administration officials in gun attacks and suicide bombings.
Saturday’s attacks came a day after the military said it killed 41 insurgents in two separate operations in the province.
Pakistan has been battling a Baloch separatist insurgency for decades, with frequent armed attacks on security forces, foreign nationals and non-local Pakistanis in the mineral-rich province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
Pakistan’s poorest province despite an abundance of untapped natural resources, Balochistan lags behind the rest of the country in almost every index, including education, employment and economic development.
Baloch separatists have intensified attacks on Pakistanis from other provinces working in the region in recent years, as well as foreign energy firms that they believe are exploiting its riches.
The separatists attacked a train with 450 passengers on board last year, sparking a two-day siege during which dozens of people were killed.
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