Belgian authorities raided the offices of the European External Action Service (EEAS), the bloc's diplomatic arm, on Tuesday morning as part of an anti-fraud investigation.
According to foreign media, Telegrafi reports, there are also raids on the premises of the College of Europe in the city of Bruges, which receives funding from EU institutions, which were also searched as part of the operation.
The private homes of individuals in Belgium were also searched and three people have been detained, it further states. Euronews.
The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) requested the raids as part of an investigation into suspected fraud related to an EU-funded training project for young diplomats.
In a statement, the EPPO said the investigation is focused on the European Union Diplomatic Academy, a nine-month training course for young diplomats and delivered on the basis of an EU tender to the College of Europe in Belgium between 2021 and 2022.
Authorities are investigating whether the EEAS violated its tendering rules by sharing information with the College before the project was awarded.
"We can confirm that police were at the EEAS building today," an EU spokesman said on Tuesday, specifying that the ongoing investigation relates to activities that took place "in the previous mandate."
The spokesman declined to comment on whether the three detained suspects were EU officials.
But as reported HandleFederica Mogherini, the former EU High Representative and Rector of the College of Europe, is among those arrested.
The Rector of the College of Europe is currently Federica Mogherini, who was head of the EEAS between 2014 and 2019.
We recall that Mogherini served as High Representative for Foreign Policy, heading the bloc's diplomatic wing, between 2014 and 2019.
She was succeeded by Josep Borrell, who was replaced by current foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas in December 2024.
She was also the European Union's representative in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.
In its statement, the EPPO specified that it has "strong suspicions" that EU rules on "fair competition" were violated during the tender process and that "confidential information regarding the ongoing procurement was shared with one of the candidates participating in the tender."
The facts "may constitute procurement fraud, corruption, conflict of interest and breach of professional secrecy," the EPPO said in a statement. "The investigation is ongoing to clarify the facts and assess whether any criminal offences have occurred." /Telegraph/
