Právo: The EU wants millions of crowns worth of grant money back from the Czech Republic

The European Union expects the Czech Republic to return 430 million CZK (21.5 million USD) worth of grant money, after it was revealed that the money had been misused by the Czech Ministry of Regional Development. On Thursday, the newspaper Právo reported that the European Commission had already asked for the first 330 million CZK to be returned, and would decide upon the final 100 million CZK later. The Czech Finance Ministry has confirmed the reports. The scandal surrounding the misuse of EU funds took place at the Ministry of Regional Development in the 1990s. In 2006, ten businessmen and some high-ranking ministry officials were found guilty of embezzling funds from the EUs Phare programme.

Author: Rosie Johnston