"Politico" has revealed the disappearance of a set of highly sensitive files containing personal information of senior law enforcement officials last summer from the headquarters of the European Police "Europol." The report indicated that these files were supposed to be locked away in a secure storage room deep within Europol's headquarters in The Hague. The newspaper confirmed that Europol has been immersed in this incident since then, with an internal memo reviewed by "Politico" and discussions with current and former employees indicating that the employees' physical files, including that of Europol's Executive Director Catherine De Bolle and other senior officials, leaked at some point before September.
The memo stated: "On September 6, 2023, the Europol Directorate was informed about the disappearance of personal paper files belonging to several Europol employees." It added that when officials reviewed all agency records, they discovered "additional missing files." This incident has been a topic of conversation at the agency in The Hague, where staff have been exchanging notes about how the files went missing – and, above all, trying to understand how the central law enforcement authority in Europe found itself in such chaos.
Additionally, "Politico" spoke with four current and former Europol officials familiar with the incident. The four officials mentioned that some of the missing files re-emerged when a citizen found them left in a public place in The Hague and brought them to a local police station. They stated that it was not immediately clear how long those files had been missing or why they had been moved from within the agency.
In response to "Politico's" inquiries, The Hague police spokesperson Steven van Santem stated: "The Hague police are involved in some details related to an internal investigation that is still ongoing for Europol."
