Overview
- The Office of the European Ombudsman opened an examination in late June into the Commission's handling of an access request for a private chat said to include Ursula von der Leyen and Volodymyr Zelensky.
- Dutch investigative group Follow the Money sought the chat records in January and the Commission rejected the request in March and again in May, citing risks to international relations and the public interest.
- The Commission has not taken a clear position on whether the chat messages count as official Commission documents and it did not provide details on retention or who holds the records.
- The complainant told the Ombudsman the Commission failed to assess partial disclosure options and offered no evidence of specific harm from publishing the exchanges.
- The Ombudsman has requested relevant Commission documents and plans a meeting with Commission representatives in mid‑July, with the full review expected to take several months and potential implications for EU transparency rules.