Free because there is no risk of escape
Serious allegations against former EU chief diplomat
Updated on December 3, 2025 – 3:36 p.mReading time: 1 min.
For years she was the EU’s chief diplomat, and on Tuesday Federica Mogherini was arrested on suspicion of corruption. Now she is free again – but only because there is no risk of escape.
Former EU chief diplomat and Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini, who is suspected of corruption, is free again after her arrest on Tuesday. She is now officially considered a suspect in the investigation, as the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) announced. Accordingly, she and two other people are accused of procurement fraud, corruption, conflicts of interest and breach of professional confidentiality. Pretrial detention was not imposed because there was no perceived risk of absconding.
Mogherini was arrested on Tuesday in Bruges along with top EU official Stefano Sannino and a senior official at the College of Europe. According to the EPPO, they are suspected of having acted seriously unlawfully in connection with EU-funded training for young diplomats.
The former EU foreign policy chief Mogherini is now rector of the College of Europe, which is considered a training ground for EU officials and diplomats. Sannino was Secretary General of the EU Diplomatic Service from 2021 to 2024 and most recently headed the Directorate General for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf Region in the EU Commission. According to information from the German Press Agency, he has now been relieved of his duties.
The College of Europe had announced that it would cooperate fully with the authorities. Mogherini was at the head of the European External Action Service (EEAS) from 2014 to 2019 and was also Vice President of the EU Commission. The allegations relate to the period 2021-2022.
