Global & US Headlines
Belgian Police Detain Mogherini and Two Senior EU Figures in Diplomatic Academy Tender Probe
On 2 Dec 2025 Belgian federal police, acting on EPPO warrants, arrested former EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, ex-EEAS secretary-general Stefano Sannino and a College of Europe manager over alleged rigging of a 2021-22 tender that handed the €650k EU Diplomatic Academy contract to the College of Europe.
Focusing Facts
- Raids hit EEAS offices in Brussels, multiple College of Europe buildings in Bruges and private homes before the three suspects were held for up to 48 hours under Belgian law.
- EPPO alleges confidential procurement criteria were leaked prior to the award, potentially breaching EU rules on fair competition, procurement fraud and conflict of interest.
- Investigators are scrutinising the College’s €3.2 million purchase of a Bruges building in 2022, shortly before it secured the academy funding.
Context
Europe has been here before: the entire Santer Commission resigned in 1999 amid accusations of cronyism, and the 2022 “Qatargate” cash-for-influence affair rocked the Parliament; each scandal rekindles doubts about the EU’s ability to police itself. This detention—unprecedented for a former High Representative—signals the growing clout of the two-year-old European Public Prosecutor’s Office and a wider trend toward supranational oversight of EU funds, much as the U.S. federal government strengthened the GAO and OIG network after 1970s procurement scandals. If EPPO secures convictions, it could discourage the revolving-door practice whereby senior officials steer contracts to institutions they later join; if it fails, public cynicism about Brussels elites will deepen, feeding national-populist currents that have chipped away at EU legitimacy for a decade. On a century horizon, the episode will either mark a maturing of EU accountability mechanisms—akin to the 1871 creation of Germany’s Reichsrechnungshof—or another footnote in the long struggle to align an expanding supranational bureaucracy with democratic scrutiny.
Perspectives
Mainstream Western European outlets
e.g., Le Monde, NZ Herald — Report the detentions as a significant yet routine judicial action over suspected tender irregularities, stressing presumption of innocence and the EU institutions’ cooperation with investigators. By framing the arrests as a contained legal matter and spotlighting official statements of cooperation, they risk downplaying broader questions about endemic corruption inside EU bodies, thereby shielding the bloc’s overall legitimacy.
Middle-Eastern & other non-Western outlets
e.g., KhabarOnline, Gulf-Times — Highlight the episode as fresh proof of serious corruption at the heart of EU power, depicting the arrests as causing 'turmoil' and 'shockwaves' through Brussels. Their focus on EU scandal serves geopolitical narratives that paint Western institutions as hypocritical or morally compromised, so coverage may exaggerate the gravity and frequency of such scandals while omitting similar issues at home.
Anti-establishment/Populist financial blogs
e.g., Zero Hedge — Present the case as confirmation that an insular EU elite routinely misuses public money, linking it to a wider pattern of graft and institutional rot. Sensational language and broad generalisations cater to readers sceptical of supranational governance, potentially overstating the evidence and ignoring exculpatory facts to advance an anti-EU narrative.