EU Investigates von der Leyen Over Zelensky Chat

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is facing a new transparency investigation over a private group chat with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and several European leaders.

According to Berliner Zeitung’s Tuesday report, European Ombudsman Teresa Anjinho has launched an inquiry into whether the European Commission violated EU transparency rules by refusing to release messages exchanged in the chat.

The group reportedly included German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Zelensky.

The investigation follows a request from the Dutch investigative outlet Follow the Money, which sought access to communications between von der Leyen and the participating leaders after Politico first reported the group chat’s existence in January.

The European Commission rejected the request, arguing that disclosing the messages could harm the European Union’s international relations with third countries.

“I have decided to open an inquiry into the commission’s handling of the complainant’s request under the EU rules on public access to documents,” Anjinho wrote in a letter cited by Follow the Money.

According to Berliner Zeitung, representatives of the commission and the ombudsman are expected to meet by mid-July, while the investigation could take several months.

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Latest transparency controversy

The case is the latest in a series of transparency disputes involving von der Leyen’s communications.

Last year, the General Court of the European Union ruled that the commission had mishandled a request by The New York Times seeking access to text messages exchanged between von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla during negotiations over COVID-19 vaccine contracts.

Earlier this month, Anjinho also criticized the erasure of a text message from French President Macron regarding the proposed EU-Mercosur trade agreement.

According to Berliner Zeitung, the ombudsman concluded that the message had been deleted unlawfully and called on the commission to improve its procedures for preserving official communications, including text messages.