Former EU foreign policy chief Mogherini detained in Belgian fraud probe

Belgian police detained three senior figures connected to the European Union's diplomatic training apparatus on Tuesday, acting on a request from the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) in an investigation that cuts to the heart of how the bloc awards contracts to its own institutions. Federica Mogherini, who ran the EU's foreign policy from 2014 to 2019, Stefano Sannino, the current secretary general of the European External Action Service (EEAS), and Cesare Zegretti, a senior administrator at the College of Europe, were taken into custody as officers searched offices in Brussels, Bruges and private homes.

The contract at the centre of the probe

The investigation targets the European Union Diplomatic Academy, a programme for junior diplomats from member states run by the College of Europe since 2022. Mogherini has served as the academy's director since August of that year, after becoming rector of the College in 2020. The EPPO says it has "strong suspicions" that fair competition rules were breached when the EEAS awarded the tender to establish the academy at the College's Bruges campus. The core allegation is that the College may have been tipped off about the selection criteria before the official notice was published, giving it an unfair advantage over any competing bidders.

The academy itself is a relatively recent creation. Launched under the previous Commission mandate, it was designed to standardise training for national diplomats entering EU service, blending academic modules with practical exercises. The College of Europe, founded in 1949 and long regarded as a finishing school for the EU's future elite, was a natural partner. But the prosecutor's office, which became operational in 2021, is now examining whether that natural relationship crossed into procedural illegality.

How the investigation unfolded

According to the EPPO statement, the facts were first reported to OLAF, the European Anti-Fraud Office, before being referred to the prosecutor's office. "They could constitute procurement fraud, corruption, conflict of interest and violation of professional secrecy," the EPPO said. "The investigation is ongoing to clarify the facts and assess whether any criminal offences have occurred." The office also confirmed it had requested the lifting of immunity, typically granted to diplomats and senior officials, for "several suspects" prior to the raids, and that those requests were granted. It did not specify which institutions received the requests, though the EEAS and the Commission are the most likely candidates.

The searches on Tuesday were extensive. At the EEAS, officers targeted the administrative building at Rue d'Arlon 62, not the main Schuman roundabout headquarters. Staff were told to vacate the premises and leave doors and furniture unlocked. At the College of Europe's Bruges campus, the executive education offices were searched. The College confirmed the operation in an evening statement, saying it "remains committed to the highest standards of integrity, fairness, and compliance, both in academic and administrative matters."

The three detainees and their roles

Mogherini, 51, is the most prominent figure caught in the net. An Italian politician who served as her country's foreign minister before moving to Brussels, she was the public face of EU foreign policy for five years, overseeing the Iran nuclear deal negotiations and the bloc's response to the migration crisis. Her move to the College of Europe in 2020 was seen as a natural transition for a former high representative. Since 2022 she has also directed the Diplomatic Academy, placing her at the intersection of the awarding authority (the EEAS) and the beneficiary (the College).

Sannino, 65, is a career diplomat who served as Italy's ambassador to the EU before becoming the EEAS's top civil servant in 2015. He survived multiple leadership changes at the service, including the transition from Mogherini to Josep Borrell. His current role as director general for the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf at the Commission, a post he took up in 2023, keeps him inside the Berlaymont, but his long tenure at the EEAS means he would have been involved in or aware of the academy tender process.

Zegretti is less known outside Brussels circles. As co-director of the College's executive education, training and projects office, he would have been directly responsible for preparing the College's bid and managing the academy's operations once the contract was won. His detention suggests the probe is looking at the operational side of the alleged information leak, not just the political level.

EPPO's growing reach

The case is a significant test for the European Public Prosecutor's Office, which has struggled to establish its credibility since its delayed launch in June 2021. Led by Laura Kövesi, the former head of Romania's anti-corruption agency, the EPPO has jurisdiction over fraud affecting the EU budget, cross-border VAT fraud above €10 million, and corruption involving EU officials. It can direct national police forces, in this case Belgian investigators, to execute searches and arrests. Tuesday's operation, coordinated across multiple sites simultaneously, demonstrates the office's operational capacity.

It also highlights the unusual legal architecture the EPPO operates within. The prosecutor's office is an EU body, but it relies on national judicial systems for enforcement. The investigative judge who now has 48 hours to decide on the detainees' fate is Belgian, applying Belgian criminal procedure. The immunity lifting process required cooperation from EU institutions, which enjoy privileges and immunities under the 1965 Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Communities. That the requests were granted suggests the evidence presented was considered substantial by the relevant authorities.

Political timing and institutional fallout

The Commission was quick to distance itself. Spokesperson Anitta Hipper confirmed the raids were part of an "ongoing investigation of the activities that took place … in the previous mandate," meaning before Ursula von der Leyen's reappointment in December 2024. A senior EU official told reporters the investigation began before Kaja Kallas took over as high representative on 1 December. Kallas, the former Estonian prime minister, has not been implicated.

The distinction matters politically. Von der Leyen's second Commission has made the rule of law and anti-corruption central to its narrative, particularly in the context of enlargement and the conditionality mechanism for EU funds. Having a flagship investigation land in the first weeks of the new mandate, targeting the previous mandate's foreign policy leadership, allows the Commission to argue that the system works. But it also exposes the continuity of personnel: Sannino remained in a senior role across the transition, moving from EEAS secretary general to a Commission director generalship.

The European Parliament has not yet commented formally, but MEPs on the budgetary control and foreign affairs committees are likely to demand a full briefing. The EPPO is required to report to Parliament annually, and this case will feature prominently in the next report. The Council, representing member states, will be watching closely: the diplomatic academy is funded from the EU budget, meaning national contributions are at stake.

The College of Europe under scrutiny

For the College of Europe, the raid is a crisis. The institution, with campuses in Bruges and Natolin (Warsaw), has educated two generations of EU officials, including several current commissioners and countless national diplomats. Its funding comes from a mix of EU grants, member state contributions and private tuition. The executive education office, which Zegretti co-directs, runs bespoke training programmes for public administrations and corporations, a significant revenue stream.

The diplomatic academy contract would have been a prestigious addition to that portfolio, guaranteeing a steady flow of EU-funded students. If the College did receive advance notice of the tender criteria, it would represent a classic conflict of interest: an institution led by the former head of the awarding authority bidding for a contract managed by her former deputy. The EPPO's focus on "fair competition" suggests it is treating this as a procurement violation first, with corruption as a potential aggravating factor.

What happens next

The immediate deadline is the Belgian investigative judge's decision, due within 48 hours of the arrests. The judge can order continued detention, release with conditions, or release without conditions. Charges have not yet been filed; the EPPO's statement makes clear the investigation is ongoing. If the judge finds sufficient evidence, the case proceeds to a full instruction phase, which in Belgium can take months or years.

Beyond the legal proceedings, the political reverberations are already building. The EEAS, which employs roughly 4,000 people across Brussels and 145 delegations worldwide, has seen its top leadership destabilised twice in five years, first with Borrell's turbulent tenure, now with Sannino's detention. The service's managing director for administration, who would have overseen the tender process, has not been named but is likely under scrutiny. For Mogherini, the arrest marks a dramatic fall for a politician once tipped for the Commission presidency. For the EU's anti-corruption architecture, it is the highest-profile test yet of whether the EPPO can deliver on its mandate.

The College of Europe's statement on Tuesday evening was carefully worded. It acknowledged the searches but offered no detail on the substance of the allegations. Its board, which includes former prime ministers and commissioners, will meet in the coming days to decide on governance measures. The Belgian authorities have not indicated whether the College as a legal entity faces charges, though Belgian corporate liability law allows for that possibility. The EU budget, which funds the diplomatic academy, is relatively small, low tens of millions of euros annually, but the principle at stake is large: whether the EU's own institutions play by the rules they set for others.

For now, the three detainees wait in Belgian custody. Their lawyers have not spoken publicly. The EPPO has given no timeline for the next phase. The only certainty is Thursday's judicial ruling, which will determine whether this becomes a prolonged criminal case or a brief institutional embarrassment. Either way, the EU's foreign policy machinery has been shaken, and the message from Luxembourg, where the EPPO is based, is that no rank is high enough to insulate its holder from investigation. European Public Prosecutor's Office