EPPO’s Chief Laura Kövesi becomes top topic in Croatia’s election campaign

EU Prosecutor Laura Kövesi has become one of the hot topics in the Croatian election campaign due to the latest dispute between the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and Andrej Plenković’s government.

While there have been disagreements in the past, the focus of the latest dispute is the ‘Faculty of Geodesy’ case, which was first reported by the Croatian portal Telegram.

According to Telegram, Culture Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek paid about €2.5 million to the Faculty of Geodesy in Zagreb for 3D imaging of buildings after the earthquakes that repeatedly hit Zagreb and Central Croatia in 2020, without a public tender. They claim that the amount has been overpaid several times, according to Telegram.

At the end of last year, EPPO indicted 29 people and one company on suspicion of subsidy fraud. Investigators entered the Ministry of Culture at the end of January.

The government, however, said that the money for registering the buildings was paid from Croatian, not EU, funds and that EPPO had no claim. The same was repeated by Obuljen Koržinek and Plenković on Monday.

“Here it has been irrefutably established that not a single cent from the common EU budget was spent or paid for the 3D imaging project. This tells us that it is money from the Croatian budget, which means that Uskok (Croatian Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime) is responsible for it,” said Plenković on Monday.

Obuljen Koržinek pointed out that it was in the government’s interest to investigate “whether anyone has misused or intended to misuse funds earmarked for reconstruction and emergency measures”.

But EPPO doesn’t think so. On several occasions in recent months, they have said that the European office is responsible for the “Geodesy Faculty case” and that they do not intend to give it up.

Over the weekend, Kövesi went a step further. The chief European prosecutor told N1 television on Sunday that this was a case for EPPO, and in response to a journalist’s question about Plenković’s claim that EPPO was not competent in this case, she assessed that it was a classic case of “raising a smokescreen”.

“If I have to comment, I would refer to my previous experience in Romania. I have already seen such a move. It is a textbook example of politicians who create a smoke screen in front of citizens. ‘Dear citizens, it does not matter if there was a fraud, the question is who is in charge,’” Kövesi told N1.

Plenković and Obuljen Koržinek rejected claims that the government was “raising smokescreens”.

The opposition, on the other hand, assessed ruling HDZ on Monday that Plenković is afraid of the arrest of Obuljen Koržinek and that is why he wants the elections now.

This already shows that the issue of EPPO’s activities in Croatia and the relationship with Kövesi will be high on the agenda in the election campaign. Croatia will soon be facing three election cycles – for the parliament, the EU Parliament and the Head of State.

“This is a completely unnecessary conflict that Plenković cannot win. Kövesi will not give in,” the political scientist assessed Euractiv and sociologist Anđelko Milardović.

On the other hand, a source with excellent knowledge of the Croatian political scene told Euractiv a few days ago that she would not be surprised if Plenković is fuelling the conflict with Kövesi because it strengthens his position within the HDZ and its voters on the eve of the elections.

(Adriano Milovan | Euractiv.hr)