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Follow the Money EU
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European independent investigative newsroom.
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🇪🇺💻 Can Europe ever achieve digital sovereignty?

Journalist Alexander Fanta breaks down why the EU still depends on American tech – from cloud servers to major apps – using cases like the Zivver data breach and AWS outage to show how fragile Europe’s digital independence is.
November 11, 2025 at 2:15 PM
“The CEO used to be an elite spy.”

FTM journalist Sebastiaan Brommer reveals how European health and government data ended up with a U.S. firm tied to ex-Israeli intelligence – and the risks that poses.

🎧 Here's the latest episode: www.ftm.eu/articles/pod...
November 7, 2025 at 12:08 PM
⚖️📬𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲 & 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿

Charges against ex-EU Justice Chief Didier Reynders dominate a week marked by new revelations on spyware, tax evasion, and political corruption across Europe and the pond.

Read the latest newsletter here: www.ftm.eu/newsletters/...
November 5, 2025 at 10:02 AM
🗃️ Why would Israel want access to Europeans’ data?
FTM’s new podcast reveals how tech firm Zivver, trusted with Europe’s most sensitive information, allowed private messages to slip into the orbit of a U.S. company run by former Israeli intelligence officers.

Listen here: www.ftm.eu/articles/pod...
November 5, 2025 at 8:06 AM
🚨📱Under the EU’s DSA, X must report user-safety risks. Yet the platform hid data about child abuse and terrorism and now Brussels is helping to keep its reports confidential.

An EU watchdog is calling the Commission out for shielding the platform.

Read our update: www.ftm.eu/articles/eu-...
November 4, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Think Europe shapes its own policies? Think again. A third of Brussels’ 'independent' think tanks get millions from the U.S. and Big Tech to protect their interests and shape the EU agenda.

💭 Should foreign funding in EU think tanks be more transparent?

Read more: www.ftm.eu/articles/a-t...
November 4, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Google, the world’s largest search engine operating three in four smartphones, has played Brussels like a fiddle – shaping laws, silencing rivals, and calling it "innovation". The chart shows how Big Tech bankrolls Brussels’ top think tanks.

Read our latest story here: www.ftm.eu/articles/goo...
November 3, 2025 at 7:18 AM
🇺🇸 ⚖️ Why did the U.S. suddenly drop two major NATO corruption cases?

In our latest podcast, journalists Simon Van Dorpe and Jesse Pinster unpack the story.

Listen to the full episode here: www.ftm.eu/articles/pod...
October 31, 2025 at 1:48 PM
"It’s a shitshow". Ivory gone, two dead in a plane crash, whistleblowers fired. Reports to FTM reveal chaos at Zakouma Park – run by African Parks, with Prince Harry on its board. Chad tried to expel them for fraud. Why did Brussels step in?

Read the full story here: www.ftm.eu/articles/afr...
October 31, 2025 at 8:42 AM
🏆 This week, 'The Shadow Fleet Secrets' won the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism 2025. It exposed how Western shipowners sold 230 old tankers – earning $6 billion from deals that built Russia’s shadow fleet and helped it dodge EU sanctions.

🎧 Watch the podcast clip: lnkd.in/eXGbR4Cs
October 24, 2025 at 11:08 AM
🇪🇺💰How ‘independent’ can Brussels-based think tanks really be when one third of their funding comes from the U.S?

🔗 Read what this means for Europe:
www.ftm.eu/articles/a-t...
October 23, 2025 at 8:05 AM
🏆 FTM & partners received the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for The Shadow Fleet Secrets, revealing how Western shipowners fuelled Russia’s shadow fleet. We’re donating our €20 000 prize to fearless outlets in Ukraine & Russia.

💡Help keep independent reporting alive: www.ftm.eu/help-us-to-s...
October 22, 2025 at 2:15 PM
🏆 We’re honoured to receive the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism 2025 for our cross-border investigation The Shadow Fleet Secrets.

Read the investigation here: www.ftm.eu/files/the-sh...
October 21, 2025 at 6:38 PM
💰 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝘀. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀.

The trail of Follow the Money’s #Natogate probe leads to Capellen, Luxembourg, home to NATO's procurement agency. There, insiders traded NATO secrets and bribes worth millions for defence contracts.

🔗Read more about #Natogate here: www.ftm.eu/articles/the...
October 21, 2025 at 1:55 PM
💰 Bribes. Contracts. Confessions.

The trail of Follow the Money’s #Natogate probe leads to Capellen, Luxembourg, home to NATO’s procurement agency. There, insiders and consultants traded confidential information and bribes worth millions for defence contracts.
October 21, 2025 at 1:51 PM
📢 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆, 𝘄𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻 #𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲 – a two-part investigation into how NATO insiders, defence consultants and a Turkish arms magnate got tangled in a €2 million corruption web from Brussels to Washington.

Read part 1, Washington’s Silence: www.ftm.eu/articles/us-...
October 20, 2025 at 7:57 AM
🍺⚠️ Ireland wanted to tell drinkers the truth: alcohol causes cancer.

Big Alcohol made sure cancer warnings never reached your bottle – using the same scientists and tactics once hired by Big Tobacco.

🔗 Read our investigation here: www.ftm.eu/articles/alc...
October 18, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Facing fraud and mismanagement allegations, Chad expelled African Parks. Then Brussels stepped in – after the EU threatened to pull €20 million in aid, the government reversed course and let the NGO stay.

🔗Read the full story on our website or app: www.ftm.eu/articles/cha...
October 17, 2025 at 5:43 PM
💰 𝗔 𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗴𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲. €𝟭𝟱𝟬𝗠 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗨 𝗮𝗶𝗱. 𝗕𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁.
Virunga was meant to protect nature – instead, EU money helped fund a crypto-fuelled project in Congo.

🎧 Listen to our latest episode on our website, app and on major streaming services here: www.ftm.eu/articles/pod...
October 17, 2025 at 8:55 AM
💶 Your tax money. Their spyware.

Journalist Vas Panagiotopoulos reveals how EU funds flowed to spyware firms – tools weaponised by regimes, criminals and terrorists, threatening press freedom and safety.

🎧 Latest episode 👇

www.ftm.eu/articles/eur...
October 14, 2025 at 7:03 AM
💰 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 – 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞’𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞? Eve Moore reveals how billions flow through banks and insurers in our latest investigation.

Read the article: www.ftm.eu/articles/isr...
October 11, 2025 at 12:44 PM
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 – 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐔 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬?

In our latest podcast, journalists and Emma du Chatinier talk with spyware expert Vas Panagiotopoulos about how EU money fuels firms behind illegal surveillance and repression.

🎧 Listen here: www.ftm.eu/articles/eur...
October 10, 2025 at 12:28 PM
⚠️ Europe’s secrets are in new hands. Zivver, used by hospitals, courts and governments for confidential messages data – has been sold to a U.S. firm led by ex-Israeli intelligence officers, sparking serious privacy and oversight concerns.

🔗 Full story: www.ftm.eu/articles/eur...
October 9, 2025 at 7:59 AM
⚖️ Collapsing cases, bribes, spies – 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 & 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫, FTM data shows immunity waivers are falling while unresolved cases pile up. Why is Parliament growing more protective?

🔗 Read the latest newsletter on our website or app below:

www.ftm.eu/newsletters/...
October 8, 2025 at 8:56 AM
💊 False health claims are banned in the EU – but Kourtney Kardashian’s Unilever-backed gummies still sell, tricking consumers with products they don’t even need. Journalist Irene van den Berg explains how brands bend the rules while regulators can’t keep up.

www.ftm.eu/articles/pod...
October 7, 2025 at 4:04 PM