BRUSSELS – The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), led by Laura Kövesi, is currently investigating a possible misuse of European Union funds in the case of the Novi Sad Railway Station.
This was confirmed to European Western Balkans by the EPPO, which stated that it is providing this information to the public due to an exceptionally high level of interest.
“Due to the very high public interest, the EPPO confirms that it has an ongoing investigation into possible misuse of EU funds involving the Novi Sad railway station. In order not to endanger the outcome of this investigation, no further details can be made public”, EPPO stated.
The statement further explains that “EPPO must decide on exercising its jurisdiction when fraud involving EU funds allocated to non-EU countries or to EU member states that are not participants occurs.”
“Considering that the damage to the Union’s financial interests is a constituent part of the fraud offence, when that damage takes place in Belgium or Luxembourg (because that’s where the funds are disbursed from, where EU institutions are located), there is jurisdiction of those Member States and therefore competence for the EPPO, regardless of where the conduct has taken place, i.e. on a third country territory”, the statement adds.
EPPO is responsible for investigating, prosecuting, and bringing to court perpetrators of criminal offenses against the EU’s financial interests. These offenses include various types of fraud, VAT fraud exceeding €10 million, money laundering, corruption, and more. EPPO conducts investigations, prosecutes criminal cases, and functions as a prosecutor before the competent courts of participating EU member states, up until the final resolution of the case.
Regarding non-EU countries, EPPO can have jurisdiction in specific cases of fraud affecting EU funds allocated to those countries. As for cases involving Serbia, EPPO’s latest report for 2024 states that Serbia has been involved in three EPPO investigations.
As previously reported by European Western Balkans, negotiations are ongoing with Serbian authorities to establish a working arrangement with the Serbian prosecution.