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EU Confidential

Notes on a scandal — will a fraud probe upend the EU?

EU Confidential

POLITICO

Politics, News Commentary, News

4.4175 Ratings

🗓️ 5 December 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Brussels was jolted this week by dawn raids and an alleged fraud probe involving current and former senior EU diplomats. Host Sarah Wheaton speaks with Zoya Sheftalovich — a longtime Brussels Playbook editor who has just returned from Australia to begin her new role as POLITICO’s chief EU correspondent — and with Max Griera, our European Parliament reporter, to unpack what we know so far, what’s at stake for Ursula von der Leyen, and where the investigation may head next. Then, with Zoya staying in the studio, we’re joined by Senior Climate Correspondent Karl Mathiesen, Trade and Competition Editor Doug Busvine and Defense Editor Jan Cienski to take stock of the Commission’s first year — marked by this very bumpy week. We look at competitiveness, climate, defense and the fast-shifting global landscape — and our panel delivers its score for von der Leyen’s team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:30.2

Brussels has had one of those weeks where the city feels a little stunned.

0:35.1

On Tuesday, there were dawn raids and detentions across Belgium. They were linked to an

0:41.0

alleged fraud investigation into the early days of the EU's Diplomatic Academy in Bruges,

0:46.9

and that shook the usually discrete world of EU diplomacy. The visibility of the operation, and the bold-faced names who were very publicly hauled in

0:58.6

for questioning, including the EU's former foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, caught

1:04.7

many insiders off guard.

1:07.9

But as the week progressed, the gravity of the fraud allegations actually got murkier, not clearer.

1:19.9

All of this is happening, just as Commission President Ursula von der Leyen marks one year into her second term.

1:26.6

A moment she might have hoped would be about

1:28.6

stability and a sense of direction. It's now colliding with an unexpected test of the system around her.

1:36.0

So how big could this scandal become? Will anyone actually be held accountable for wrongdoing?

1:42.4

Assuming there even was any wrongdoing? And how will this

1:46.4

affect the way EU citizens view their leadership in Brussels? I'm Sarah Wheaton, host of EU Confidential.

1:55.8

Later in the episode, we'll zoom out and take stock of this commission's first year. The winds, the wobbles, and the impact of a rapidly shifting international landscape

...

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