Vili Beroš (; born 13 December 1964) is a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

neurosurgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty that focuses on the surgical treatment or rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, ...

who served as

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

from 2020 to 2024. On 19 November 2020, it was announced that Beroš had tested positive for the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

amid its pandemic in Croatia. His tenure as minister has been marked by efforts to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic in Croatia, which, as of March 2021, has affected over 150,000 people in Croatia. Croatia had also been presided over the

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and less formally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU) a ...

between January and June 2020, which occasionally entailed holding meetings of ministers of health from all 27 member states of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, which are chaired by the minister from the presiding country. Beroš was arrested and dismissed on 15 November 2024 due to a corruption investigation led by

USKOK The Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (), better known as USKOK, is a body of the Croatian criminal justice system, attached to the State's Attorney Office and specializing in investigations related to corruption and ...

. He is accused by USKOK of charges that include

bribery Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

abuse of authority Abuse of power or abuse of authority, in the form of "malfeasance in office" or "official abuse of power", is the commission of an unlawful act, done in an official capacity, which affects the performance of official duties. Malfeasance in ...

and

influence peddling Influence peddling, also called traffic of influence or trading in influence, is the practice of using one's influence in government or connections with authorities to obtain favours or preferential treatment for another, usually in return for ...

. Beroš was also under an investigation led by EPPO for the same actions taken, but was also investigated for

criminal conspiracy In criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more people to commit a crime at some time in the future. Criminal law in some countries or for some conspiracies may require that at least one overt act be undertaken in furtherance ...

. Attorney general Ivan Turudić declared that USKOK has the jurisdiction for this case, thus currently EPPO is forced to hand out all evidence to USKOK.

References

1964 births Living people Politicians from Split, Croatia Health ministers of Croatia Physicians from Split, Croatia Croatian neurosurgeons Croatian Freemasons {{Croatia-politician-stub