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European Commission Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu has told Euronews’ flagship morning show Europe Today that trust in the EU “needs to be defended” amid a fresh probe into suspected fraud involving the EU’s former foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini.
“Of course I cannot comment on the investigation, but it is important that these investigations will be followed up thoroughly, because it’s EU money, it’s taxpayers’ money, and again it’s trust in the European institutions that needs to be defended,” Commissioner Mînzatu told Euronews.
She added that she had been “absolutely shocked” by the news of a fraud investigation entangling the EU’s foreign policy arm, the European External Action Service (EEAS), which has shaken Brussels.
On Thursday, Mogherini, who currently serves as the rector of the College of Europe and was the EU’s foreign policy chief between 2014 and 2019, was formally notified of the accusationsagainst her as part of an ongoing investigation into suspected fraud involving an EU training for junior diplomats.
The probe, led by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), is centered around suspicions that the EEAS broke its own tendering rules by providing upfront information to the College of Europe amid bids for a €130,000 program to train young European diplomats.
Neither Mogherini nor the other two suspects, a top EU civil servant and a manager at the College of Europe, have been formally charged.
Sources have confirmed to Euronews that Stefano Sannino, also detained on Tuesday, has since taken early retirement from his position as Director-General of the Commission’s department for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf.
Sannino previously served in the EEAS and as an Italian diplomat, and is seen as an influential figure in the Brussels institutions.
In a statement on Wednesday evening, Mogherini said: “I have full confidence in the justice system, and I trust that the correctness of the College’s actions will be assured.”
“I will obviously continue to offer my full collaboration to the authorities,” she added.
The EPPO has said that the accusations against the three suspects concern “procurement fraud and corruption, conflict of interest and violation of professional secrecy.”