Federica Mogherini has been released

In addition to the current Rector of the College of Europe, on Tuesday the Director of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf, Stefano Sannino, as well as the co-director of the College of Europe, Cesare Zegretti, were also taken in.

All of them are linked to the alleged scandal involving the funding of young European diplomats.

The charges include fraud in public procurement, corruption, conflict of interest, and violation of professional secrecy, but the prosecutor’s office noted that “there is no risk of flight” in their case, Ansa reported.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that Mogherini and Sannino were detained on suspicion that the 2021 and 2022 tendering process, linked to the establishment of the Diplomatic Academy at the College of Europe, “was not fair.”

Mogherini has been the Rector of the College of Europe since 2020 and became the Director of the EU Diplomatic Academy in 2022, the project at the center of the investigation.

• Shock: Federica Mogherini arrested; Another high-ranking official also “falls”

Sannino previously served as Secretary-General of the EEAS and currently holds a senior position within the Commission.

EU union representatives have warned that if the allegations are confirmed, the damage to the reputation of European institutions could be “catastrophic.”