Reference News Network December 6 report: According to the German website "Berliner Zeitung", Brussels is in turmoil. More and more EU officials are involved in the corruption scandal of manipulating tenders by the EU External Action Service. At the time when the former Vice President of the European Commission and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, was arrested, another big figure is increasingly coming under scrutiny: the current High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas.

Although the time frame of the investigation began before Kallas became the "EU's chief diplomat," this does not alleviate the growing public doubts about her role. This is because the EU External Action Service, which Kallas led for about a year, is considered one of the most opaque institutions in the EU.

The first victim of this corruption scandal may be the former High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Mogherini. The Italian woman announced on the 4th that she would resign from her position as President of the College of Europe. A few days earlier, she had been charged with fraud and corruption in an EU-funded training program for diplomats, which was promoted by the EU External Action Service.

Regardless, Kallas responded quickly. According to the website "European Dynamics," she called the accusations "deeply shocking" in an internal document, but emphasized that the issues were "during the tenure of her predecessor." It has been learned that some staff members of the EU External Action Service have criticized Kallas' statement. They believe that Kallas is trying to distance herself from this corruption case as soon as possible.

Although Kallas has promised to make the operations of the EU External Action Service "completely transparent," many staff members of the EU External Action Service criticize that almost no details about the internal review mechanisms have been published so far. The "new anti-corruption strategy" mentioned by Kallas is also being questioned.

Although Kallas is currently trying to minimize political losses, right-wing conservative factions in the European Parliament are using the current corruption scandal to fiercely criticize the EU leadership. So far, the European Commission has not publicly supported Kallas. In recent months, there has been a power struggle between the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Kallas, and von der Leyen has won. Critics of Kallas say that although this Estonian woman has no direct influence over the individuals involved, the scandal still fundamentally questions the internal audit mechanisms and transparency of the EU institutions. (Translated by Wang Qing)

Original: toutiao.com/article/7580644109010960911/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.