These documents, meant to be securely stored, went missing last summer, causing a stir within the agency's headquarters in The Hague. An internal investigation revealed that additional files were also missing. Some files were later found by a citizen in The Hague.

The incident, involving highly confidential HR documents, is seen as a severe security and data breach. It's unclear how the files were removed from their secure location. Following the breach, the head of Human Resources, Massimiliano Bettin, was put on administrative leave.

Europol, a key agency coordinating international law enforcement activities, has not commented on the ongoing internal investigation. The breach raises concerns about internal security measures and data protection at the agency.