European prosecutors warned on Thursday of breaches of the rule of law in Croatia, after the country took over a graft probe they had launched, and said they had notified Brussels.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Zagreb investigated eight people, including former health minister Vili Beros, on suspicion of bribery, abuse of position and money laundering.
According to the EPPO, the scheme secured “undue financial gains” through the procurement of medical equipment for public hospitals financed by money from both the European Union and Croatia.
But Zagreb opened a separate investigation that led to arrest of Beros and two others last week.
The minister was sacked by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic immediately after he was arrested.
European prosecutors expected their Croatian peers to hand the case over to them but the country’s attorney-general, Ivan Turudic, decided on Tuesday that the national anti-graft prosecutors (USKOK) would be in charge.
The EPPO said in statement on Thursday it “strongly disagrees with the decision of the state attorney-general” but nonetheless “abided by his ruling… and relinquished its investigation to USKOK”.
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European prosecutors learned on the day of the arrests about an investigation led by the Croatian authorities “into facts falling within the EPPO’s competence”, it said.
European chief prosecutor Laura Kovesi subsequently wrote to the European Commission about the events, “underlining Croatia’s systemic challenges in upholding the rule of law”, the statement added.
Among its key concerns, the EPPO said that it had been unable to voice its position to the attorney -general and that Croatian prosecutors had failed to report that they were investigating an EU-funded project.
Local media and the opposition speculate that the Croatian investigation, which targets fewer people, was launched as a damage control measure to prevent a more thorough probe.
Croatia has long struggled to contain rampant corruption and the public health sector has been infamous for the bribing of doctors.
Many public hospital doctors work in parallel at private clinics, to where they often channel their patients and where they can charge fees — causing widespread public annoyance.
Since taking power in 2016, several ministers from the prime minister’s conservative HDZ party have stepped down amid graft allegations.
