EU-Croatia dispute deepens over minister's corruption case

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.