Steven N.Chief Prosecutor Péter Polt gave a presentation in Vienna on the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and on the co-operation between the Hungarian Prosecutor General’s Office and EU affiliates at a meeting of Network, an organization comprised of public prosecutors in the European Union member states.
Among other things, he spoke about the fact that Hungary “has not joined the organization for reasons of principle,” but still strives to “protect the financial interests of the EU.”
Polt also argued that it wasn’t a problem for the country not to join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, as the European anti-fraud office OLAF could conduct the same type of work “in an indirect way” with the help of Hungarian authorities, as EPPO does elsewhere.
However, EPPO’s very first report, published last month, identified a number of suspected criminal cases that involved Hungary, but it was unable to investigate them because the country had not yet joined the European-wide prosecuting body. [Telex]
