EU launches investigation as European leaders’ ‘secret chat’ sparks new scandal

The EU Commission is being investigated over a secret group chat involving Ursula von der Leyen, Volodymyr Zelensky and several European leaders that discussed how to deal with Donald Trump, The Independent writes.

The group is said to have included UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

But the contents of the chat have remained private, after the EU Commission rejected calls by a media company to provide access to the correspondence.

Ombudsman Teresa Anjinho said in a letter to Ms von der Leyen last Friday that she would open an investigation into the handling of the request to determine whether the Commission had shown a lack of transparency.