EU corruption scandal could take down von der Leyen – Politico

A fraud probe targeting Federica Mogherini has ramped up pressure on the bloc chief, already dogged by the ‘Pfizergate’ controversy

A corruption probe into former EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has thrown European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s position into jeopardy, with opponents preparing to turn the affair into a fresh push to remove her, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing officials in the bloc.

Mogherini, who served as the EU’s top diplomat from 2014 to 2019 and is now rector of the College of Europe, was detained on Tuesday. She was formally accused by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office of procurement fraud, corruption, conflict of interest, and breaches of professional secrecy over an EU-funded diplomatic academy program.

In the wake of the scandal, von der Leyen “is facing the starkest challenge to the EU’s accountability in a generation,” with her rivals renewing calls for a new no-confidence vote, Politico reported.

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According to the outlet, the affair is also straining von der Leyen’s relationship with the current EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, as the investigation centers on activities linked to the External Action Service – the body Kallas oversees.

“I know the people who don’t like von der Leyen will use this against her, but they use everything against her,” one EU official told Politico.

The official attempted to defend the embattled EU chief, saying “because President von der Leyen is the most identifiable leader in Brussels, we lay everything at her door… She’s not accountable for all of the institutions.”

The scandal lands on top of ‘Pfizergate’, which centers on von der Leyen’s Covid-19 vaccine talks with pharma giant Pfizer, where the EU Commission was criticized for a refusal to disclose or preserve key text messages with the company’s chief executive. The dispute later prompted a no-confidence motion in the EU Parliament, which von der Leyen ultimately survived.

Von der Leyen has also been seen as a key proponent of militarizing the EU and arming Ukraine. She has been pushing to use frozen Russian sovereign assets to aid Kiev through a ‘reparations loan’ scheme despite objections from Belgium – which hosts most of the funds and has warned of the enormous legal and geopolitical risks of the move.