Croatia: European Public Prosecutor’s Office Raids at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Zagreb – The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and the Croatian National Bureau for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime (Uskok) searched the premises of the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to “collect evidence” of alleged misuse of European funds, the EPPO announced in a statement.

This is “a criminal investigation into possible abuse of position and authority within the ministry,” involving resources from the European Union’s Internal Security Fund (ISF) and Croatian funds, according to the same source.

The ministry claims that the prosecutor’s investigation was preceded by an internal audit that identified “irregularities related to travel expenses” of a number of employees within its IT department, and informed Uskok about it.

According to national television (HRT), seven employees are suspected of having falsified hotel invoices and those for cars used during official trips abroad between 2019 and 2024. (April 8, 2025)