Croatia dispute deepens over minister's corruption case

22/11/2024 6:08

        A dispute between Croatia and the
        European Union over who should investigate a high-profile
        corruption case involving a former minister deepened on Thursday
        after the bloc's chief prosecutor said Zagreb had problems
        upholding the rule of law.
        The row erupted after Croatian authorities ordered the arrest
        of ex-Health Minister Vili Beros on suspicion of corruption last
        week - and then the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO)
        said it had been running its own wider investigation into the
        case and had been about to order searches.
        
        Beros denies any wrongdoing. He was fired and detained for
        one month, pending the investigations.
        
        Both sides said they had not been informed of the other
        investigation. The EU said it should take over. But Croatia's
        State Attorney General, Ivan Turudic, ruled this week that his
        country's Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised
        Crime (USKOK) would prosecute the case.
        
        The EU chief prosecutor said they handed over their files on
        Thursday to Croatia - following EU rules - but issued a
        statement saying they strongly disagreed with the decision.
        
        They said they had written to the European Commission
        "underlining Croatia's systemic challenges in upholding the rule
        of law," without going into greater detail.
        
        They said the State Attorney General had based "his decision
        solely on USKOK's interpretation, without giving the EPPO the
        chance to express its position, and thus undermining the
        impartiality of the conflict resolution".
        
        It was not immediately clear if the EU prosecutors were
        planning to take more concrete action to reclaim the case.
        
        The EPPO has said a criminal group seeking to secure
        financing for the sale of medical robotic devices in several
        hospitals was suspected of giving bribes to officials to try to
        win contracts for projects, including EU-funded ones.
        
        Turudic said his office was acting based on the applicable
        Croatian law, and the case was not related to EU funds.