By Alexandra Voudouri
A fresh scandal has erupted in the heart of the European Union, three years after Qatargate, landing at a politically and geopolitically delicate moment for Europe. This time, the turmoil hits the EU’s own diplomatic arm, the European External Action Service (EEAS), after former EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and senior Commission official Stefano Sannino were detained by Belgian authorities over alleged fraud tied to EU-funded training programs for future diplomats.
The case revives painful memories of the Qatargate bribery scandal, still unresolved, which implicated several MEPs, including former Parliament vice-president Eva Kaili,
Belgian investigators took three suspects into custody after coordinated searches at EEAS buildings in Brussels and at the College of Europe in Bruges. The suspects include Mogherini, who served as the EU’s top diplomat from 2014 to 2019, Sannino, the current EEAS director-general for the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf region, and a senior executive at the College of Europe, according to well-placed sources.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office ordered the raids following what it described as “strong suspicions” of fraud related to a 2021–2022 EEAS decision to award the EU Diplomatic Academy program to the College.
Mogherini, who became rector of the College of Europe in 2020 and later director of the EU Diplomatic Academy, oversaw key parts of the institution during the period under scrutiny. Sannino, an Italian diplomat, was serving as secretary-general of the EEAS at the time before moving to his current MENA post earlier this year.
Both Mogherini’s office and the College declined to comment, though they confirmed Belgian authorities searched College premises and the homes of the two officials. “The College of Europe will not comment at this stage,” a spokesperson said.
A Commission spokesperson also confirmed that searches took place across all CEC buildings in Brussels’ EU quarter. Diplomats described the scene as unprecedented. One person present during the raids told “K,” speaking anonymously, that officers “literally turned the office of Sannino’s former colleague upside down.”
The investigation is examining whether the EEAS showed favoritism when awarding the College a nine-month training program for aspiring European diplomats, including whether College insiders were tipped off in advance about the selection criteria during the tender process.
The case revives painful memories of the Qatargate bribery scandal, still unresolved, which implicated several MEPs, including former Parliament vice-president Eva Kaili, and badly damaged the EU’s credibility. This new affair doesn’t involve the current EEAS leadership under Kaja Kallas, but online disinformation networks, including Kremlin-linked accounts, have already begun targeting both her and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“It is difficult to imagine a worse moment for the EU to face a scandal involving public integrity,” said Alberto Alemanno, College of Europe graduate and professor of European law at HEC Paris. While urging caution until the investigation concludes, he voiced doubts about Belgian prosecutors’ effectiveness after Qatargate. “The EU needs a special supervisory body, beyond the European Public Prosecutor’s Office,” he said. “It cannot continue to rely solely on the Belgian justice system in the country where EU institutions are based.”
