Mogherini Resigns After Being Named a Suspect in a Corruption Case

Former EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini stepped down as rector of the College of Europe in Bruges after being formally notified that she is a suspect in an investigation into fraud and corruption. “Guided by the principles of utmost rigor and integrity that have shaped my work throughout my career, today I have decided to resign as rector of the College of Europe and as director of the European Union Diplomatic Academy,” she said on Thursday, December 4.

Her resignation came two days after Mogherini was detained together with Stefano Sannino, the former secretary-general of the European External Action Service. As part of the same inquiry, a third figure—a senior official at the College of Europe who is also suspected of procurement fraud linked to the creation of the EU Diplomatic Academy—was taken into custody on Tuesday.

All three were released on Wednesday and formally designated as suspects. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office said they are accused of procurement fraud and corruption, conflicts of interest, and breaches of professional secrecy. That same day, Sannino announced his immediate departure as director-general of the European Commission’s Directorate for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf, a post he assumed after serving at the EEAS between 2021–2024. His deputy, Michael Karnitschnig, will take over as acting head of the directorate. “We must uphold the presumption of innocence until judicial proceedings are concluded,” a Commission spokesperson noted.

Mogherini, who previously served as Italy’s foreign minister, headed the EEAS from 2014–2019 before taking over the College of Europe in September 2020 and becoming director of the Diplomatic Academy in August 2022. According to prosecutors, there are “serious suspicions” that confidentiality rules were breached during the academy’s establishment in 2021–2022, and that the decision to award the tender to the College of Europe may have been made on the basis of informal notice prior to the official publication of the procurement documents, potentially giving the institution an advantage over other contenders.

In a statement released the day before, Mogherini stressed that she has “full confidence in the justice system” and expects the legality of the College’s actions to be upheld. The College of Europe, with campuses in Bruges, Warsaw and Tirana, was founded in 1949 as a postgraduate institution training specialists in European policy and for careers within EU institutions. Sannino did not respond to a request for comment.