Federica Mogherini, former head of EU diplomacy, resigns as rector of the College of Europe after being charged

Mogherini was arrested this Tuesday and charged today by the European Prosecutor’s Office as part of its investigation for alleged fraud and corruption in public procurement, among other crimes related to training funded by the European Union for young diplomats.

The investigation focuses on clarifying whether the College of Europe was informed in advance about the selection criteria of the tender procedure for this program for young diplomats and therefore had sufficient reasons to believe that they would be awarded before the European External Action Service published the tender notice.

In addition to Mogherini, the Italian diplomat Stefano Sannino, former secretary general of the European External Action Service (EEAS) was arrested during this stage, according to details published by the Belgian media, while the third arrested is, according to the ANSA agency, the also Italian Cesare Zegretti, who since 2022 has been the co-director of the Executive Education, Training and Projects office of the College of Europe.

Sannino announced today in an internal message to his staff that he will retire early from his current position as director general for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf, and stated that he is confident in the work of justice and that everything will be clarified, Euractiv reported.

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