Ahead of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day of this next January 27th and the expected related political statements from all european dignitaries, I want to raise awareness again on this unresolved case 1 :
A former employee of the European External Action Service and 25 years veteran of the European Union institutions of European nationality and Jewish background has made allegations of antisemitism in relation to the discriminatory treatment she has been subjected to in this context. This discrimination is notably characterized by :
– accusations of leakages of information to third countries, in particular to Israel, close contacts with Israeli officials “well known for being Mossad agents” , accusations of breaches of security obligations and of representing overall a security threat to the European Union.
– removal from post from the Middle East and Turkey departments, security and disciplinary investigations, accusations of absence from work, salary deductions, and ultimately dismissal from the European Union.
Following a series of legal challenges, these accusations appeared to be totally unfounded. The accusations of espionnage have vanished from some documents but not others, and the accusations of absences and salary deduction have been declared illegal by the European Court of Justice in March 2022.
Still, the European Union is refusing to explain the reasons for the dismissal, refusing to allow access to the requested documents necessary to determine the nature of the discrimination and the authors of “the plot”, refusing to reimburse the amounts illegally retained and hence to apply the ECJ ruling, refusing to deny its accusations, refusing to reply to the jewish organizations having sought an explanation or solution, refusing to investigate the more than unusual incident and refusing to repair the devastating damages caused, suing instead the victim claiming for the reimbursement of their legal costs (a private legal firm charging in average 353 euros /hour ; 550e/hour for the head of the firm) hired on a direct contracting by the EEAS without any previous notification.
More specifically, it is worth highlighting that Ms Von der Leyen promised a reply to the Simon Wiesenthal Center in 2020, a reply that was never received
2. The Lawfare Project organization demanded the President of the European Commission and the High Representative of the EU to adress the problem with the same success
3. The European Prosecutor has stated to be incompetent in these matters, the European Ombudsman declared to want to avoid ” being dragged into a longlasting dispute”, the European Data Protection Supervisor declared in July 2022 to have to suspend the assessment of the request to grant access and correction of personal data due to a lack of ressources till November 2022 and has still to come with a decision despite numerous reminders. OLAF, the antifraud investigation office, has not even replied to the request to investigate the incident and the EEAS affirms to have assessed the situation without finding “not even a beginning of prove of discrimination or antisemitism”.
Last but not least, the EEAS has refused to allow UNIA (the Belgian federal authority combatting all forms of discrimination) to investigate the issue, referring to the supremacy of European law with respect to the National Belgian law and refusing to give any answers to their legitimate concerns.
In this context, where the EU institutions affirm their determination to increase their transparency, integrity and accountability I call on the European Union and its institutions to take governance and the rule of law more seriously to better shape the future. Never again means that you can’t do it again and again and get away with it.
1.https://parismatch.be/actualites/politique/599681/harcelement-au-sein-des-institutions-europeennes-laffaire-eva-symptome-dun-dysfonctionnement-grave
2.https://www.jpost.com/opinion/jaccuse-in-the-shadow-of-dreyfus-at-the-european-union-650621
3.https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/european-commission-must-confront-jew-hatred-within/
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