Plenković: If the accusations against Beroš are proven, I consider it an act of treason

Prime Minister of Croatia Andrej Plenković confirmed that Vili Beroš, the former Minister of Health of that country, was arrested this morning. He said at the press conference that two more people were arrested as part of the operation carried out by USKOK. The chief state prosecutor informed him about everything.

"I am not familiar with all the details of this case, apart from what we read in the media. It is about corrupt criminal acts. On behalf of the entire government, I want to give unreserved support to the criminal prosecution bodies to thoroughly investigate and prosecute this case," he said, as reported by HRT.

Immediately after receiving the news, he dismissed Beroš from his post and temporarily appointed State Secretary Irena Hrstić in his place.

"As prime minister, I am personally appalled by the idea that anyone in the health care system uses their position for personal enrichment or favors to anyone else. It seems that this is the illegal action of the minister and some other employees in health care. Health care is a particularly sensitive department. Minister Beroš he got the trust of me and the citizens to take care of the health system and to manage the resources in a legal way to provide the best services to all patients. Surely neither he nor anyone else was given a mandate to abuse the system and commit crimes deeds," Plenković said.

"For any such behavior of the judicial bodies, no matter how unpleasant they are for the government, I want to say that they have our full support to clear up such cases that have a corrupt character. We as the government have never and will not protect anyone from criminal prosecution if there is a suspicion that someone committed criminal acts, regardless of who it is and what duty they performed," he said.

If it is proven that the accusations against Beroš are true, Plenković said that he sees it as an act of betrayal of the personal trust he had in him since he "showed him the honor" of being a minister in the government.

Plenković said that the HDZ leadership met this morning, followed by the parliamentary majority.

"We have provided the information that is available to us at this time and we have received support to clear up this case, but we also enjoy the support of the government to continue working."

"I want this case to be used for additional engagement and the fight against corruption in all segments of the state, especially in the healthcare segment, which we are all rightly sensitive to," said Plenković.