Brussels (ANSA) – The heart of the investigation remains unchanged: alleged fraud in public contracts, corruption, conflict of interest, violation of professional secrecy. A list that mirrors the initial charges brought by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and notified, after an entire day of intense questioning, to Federica Mogherini, Stefano Sannino and Cesare Zegretti.
All three were released during the night without any conditions: for the investigators there is no risk of flight and the presumption of innocence remains fully intact, as reiterated by the same investigators who are coordinating an inquiry that began – by the admission of the anti-fraud office Olaf as well – from a complaint that in Brussels is fueling more and more questions. So much so that, according to the first reconstructions, it may have originated from the inside.
A mole in the European External Action Service (Seae) – for years the home of Mogherini and Sannino – who allegedly reported suspected irregularities, turning the spotlight on the relationship between Brussels and Bruges, reaching the College of Europe and its Academy for young diplomats. The investigators are combing through dates, documents and tender procedures, in a framework that is still far from being deciphered.
Among the elements stands out the purchase of the building on Spanjaardstraat by the College of Europe, set on a date very close to the launch of the call for tenders: a temporal coincidence that has attracted the attention of the investigators, opening up the hypothesis of possible bid rigging.
“I clarified my position with the investigators acting on behalf of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. In its long tradition, the Academy has always applied and will continue to apply the highest standards of integrity and fairness,” the former High Representative stressed in a statement published on the college’s website. Words accompanied by “full confidence in the judicial system” and by the expectation that “the correctness of the actions” of her institute, a nursery for the eurocrats of the future, “will be established.”
Sannino has shown a similar willingness, assuring “full cooperation with the authorities” but – overwhelmed by the case and also placed under the scrutiny of an administrative investigation by Olaf for suspected favoritism in internal appointments at the Seae – he has decided not to wait any longer, taking the path of resignation from the European Commission where, since the beginning of the year, he has been directing policies on the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf (3 December).
