Czech prosecutor Petr Klement officially took over as the Director-General of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) yesterday, as the first Czech to lead the organisation. He will take over effective management of the Brussels-based institution today.

It is not yet clear who will replace the 51-year-old Klement as the Czech Republic’s European prosecutor at the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Luxembourg. According to CTK sources, it will probably be Pavel Zeman, former Czech prosecutor general.

OLAF investigates fraud, corruption and other misconduct affecting the financial interests of the European Union, such as suspected misuse of funds from the European Union budget. It does not have the powers of law enforcement bodies, so it cannot launch prosecutions, but it can issue recommendations.

After his appointment by the European Commission as the head of OLAF, Klement told CTK that he wanted to clarify its relations with the EPPO, which prosecutes perpetrators of crimes against the EU financial interests, and where Klement previously served as a deputy to the European chief prosecutor. He also plans to harmonise procedures and information exchange with Europol and Eurojust, he added.

According to Klement, who was already a member of the office’s supervisory committee from 2017 to 2020, OLAF’s exclusive role is to investigate within European institutions.

In the Czech Republic, OLAF is associated mainly with the investigation into the Capi hnizdo (Stork Nest) case of suspected EU subsidy fraud, in which Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) is being prosecuted. The office concluded its investigation at the end of 2017, stating that false information had been provided in the subsidy application. Babis described the investigation as politicised.

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Before being sent to the EPPO, Klement worked for a long time at the Prosecutor General’s Office in Brno, where he dealt with serious economic and financial crime, specialising in the protection of the EU financial interests and cybercrime. He also participated in several foreign missions, such as the Eulex mission in Kosovo.

Klement’s mandate at the EPPO would have expired this summer. Former Czech prosecutor general Zeman and EPPO prosecutors Petra Vitkova and Daniela Bartikova are seeking the vacant position. The Czech selection commission has designated Zeman as the most suitable candidate. “The process of selecting a new European prosecutor for the Czech Republic is continuing at the European Commission level and has not yet been completed,” Petr Maly, spokesman for the Prosecutor General’s Office, told CTK.