Cyprus Mail 12 February 2026 - by Tom Cleaver
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| Johannes Hahn |
Belgian police have raided properties belonging to the European Commission on Thursday as part of an investigation into alleged “irregularities” in the sale of real estate assets conducted under the watch of Johannes Hahn, who is now the commission’s envoy for the Cyprus problem, according to reports.
British newspaper the Financial Times reported that the investigation, which is being carried out by the European public prosecutor’s office (EPPO), is centred on the sale of real estate belonging to the European Union which took place between 2019 and 2024, when Hahn was serving as budget commissioner.
It added that the EPPO’s investigation concerns a total of 23 buildings which were acquired from the EU by the Belgian sovereign wealth fund (SFPIM) in 2024 for a total of €900 million.
A European Commission spokesperson told the Cyprus Mail that it is “aware of an ongoing investigation pursued by the EPPO concerning the sale of 23 commission buildings to the Belgian state in 2024”, and stressed that the commission believes that the law had been followed at all times.
“As far as the European Commission is concerned, the sale of the buildings followed established procedures and protocols, and we are confident that the process was conducted in a compliant manner,” the spokesperson said
They added that the commission is “committed to transparency and accountability and will cooperate fully with the EPPO and the competent Belgian authorities on this issue”.
Additionally, they said, the commission will provide “any assistance as needed to ensure a thorough and independent investigation into this matter”, before stating that “we are not in a position to comment further due to the ongoing nature of this investigation”.
EPPO spokeswoman Tine Hollevoet had earlier told the Financial Times that “the EPPO can confirm that it is conducting evidence-collecting activities in an ongoing investigation”.
“There is nothing else that we can share at this stage, in order not to endanger the ongoing procedures and their outcome,” she added.
Hahn was appointed as the commission’s envoy for the Cyprus problem in May last year and has since visited the island twice, meeting both Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman on both occasions.
He served as budget commissioner in Ursula von der Leyen’s first commission, between 2019 and 2024, having previously served as regional policy commissioner under former commission presidents Jose Manuel Barroso and Jean-Claude Juncker, between 2010 and 2019.
Prior to that, he had served as Austria’s science minister between 2007 and 2010.
