EU-Croatia dispute deepens over minister’s corruption case
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.
Croatian Health Minister Vili Beros (Wikimedia Commons photo) 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.
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