Federica Mogherini, the former High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy and Rector of the College of Europe, has resigned from her post after being placed under investigation in a case related to suspicions of fraud and favoritism in an EU-funded diplomatic training program.
The resignation was announced after a meeting of the College's Executive Committee, where Mogherini stated that the decision came "in line with the rigor and fairness" with which, according to her, she has always exercised her public duties. She stressed that her departure aims to guarantee transparency during the investigative process.
The move comes just a day after Stefano Sannino, another senior EU official and head of the Directorate-General for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf, announced that he would step down from his post at the end of December, after he was also implicated as a suspect in the same investigation.
According to the EU Prosecutor's Office, the investigation relates to a one-year contract awarded to the College of Europe in the framework of a tender for the establishment of a new academy dedicated to the training of young diplomats and European civil servants preparing for positions in the EU external service.
