Opposition MPs said on Thursday that nobody believes Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and the state institutions anymore. Some of them expect that Croatia will no longer receive EU funds because of the corruption case involving former minister Vili Beros and the related actions of the State Attorney-General.

In a letter to the European Commission on Thursday, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) criticised the conflict of jurisdiction in the Beros corruption case and the actions of the State Attorney-General Ivan Turudic.

Kekin: Joint attack by Plenkovic and Turudic against the EPPO has taken on a new and serious dimension

“The complaints by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office are contrary to what Andrej Plenkovic told us about Croatia’s reputation as a country with independent state institutions. If the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, which watches over the legitimate use of European funds, does not want to cooperate with the State Attorney’s Office, it means that it is afraid that the attempt to expose corruption and criminality at the highest levels of the Croatian government will fail,” said SDP party MEP Mirela Ahmetovic.

She said she expected the European Commission to react in a similar way to the case of Hungary, which was denied European funds due to a lack of rule of law.

“The joint attack by Andrej Plenkovic and Attorney-General Ivan Turudic against the EPPO has taken on a new, very serious dimension. Firstly, the European prosecutors working in Croatia had to seek police protection. Secondly, Laura Kövesi, the European Public Prosecutor, had to appeal to the European Commission for systematic violations of the rule of law in Croatia,” said MEP Ivana Kekin (Mozemo party).

Bulj: No one trusts Plenkovic and the Croatian institutions anymore

Andrej Plenkovic has put Croatia in line with Hungary and Poland when they faced serious accusations of undermining democratic standards, she added.

“After Laura Kövesi gave Plenkovic and Turudic a telling off, it is clear that Plenkovic’s DORH has literally taken over the Beros case and the mafia, which includes Serbian criminals who participated in the plundering of the Croatian health system. This shows that nobody trusts Plenkovic and the captured Croatian institutions anymore, especially not Laura Kövesi, who has a lot of experience with such big names,” said MP Miro Bulj (Most party).

MEP Dalija Oreskovic (DOSIP party) commented on the EPPO’s move, saying that Croatia was obviously no longer able to fight corruption on its own and that it needed help from the EU, which may be Croatia’s last chance.

She believes that all national bodies, the opposition, the media and Croatian Members of the European Parliament from opposition parties should use their voice in the EP and other institutions to highlight Croatia’s regression in the area of the rule of law.