A prosecutor dismissed from a Foreign Office job after blowing the whistle on suspected corruption in the EU’s biggest foreign mission has agreed a settlement with the UK government of more than 400,000.

Maria Bamieh, a barrister, has claimed for the past eight years that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) failed to provide support after she attempted to expose possible collusion between EU officials and suspected criminals in Kosovo.

Instead, she said, government officials told her to ignore apparent evidence of collusion at the EU’s rule of law mission, called EULEX.

Her employment claim was due to be heard by an employment tribunal in May and June this year, but a settlement of just under 423,000 was agreed shortly before the first hearing with no admission of liability. The FCDO said it continued to strongly deny Bamieh’s claims.

Speaking for the first time since the settlement, Bamieh told the Guardian she should have been praised for exposing evidence of corruption, but instead was mistreated and forced out of her job.

“I believe that I should have been commended and supported by the FCDO for raising my concerns about possible corruption within EULEX and the treatment I suffered afterwards, but instead I felt abandoned,” she said.

Commenting on the case, the chair of the foreign affairs select committee, Tom Tugendhat, called for the Foreign Office to overhaul its complaints procedures.

“It takes great moral fibre and courage to raise your head...

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