Skopje, 28 March 2024 (MIA) – The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) requests the reimbursement of EUR 2.2 million from North Macedonia which were misused through the Erasmus+ program in the 2016-2018 period. On November 30, 2023, the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture notified the National Agency for European Educational Programs and Mobility of the request for reimbursement of funds. In March, the Agency was notified that the decision is final.

At a press conference Thursday, the head of the Agency, Marko Gjorgjievski, said the case is being investigated by the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office for Prosecuting Organized Crime and Corruption, but said he couldn’t give more information since the case is still under preliminary investigation.

“We were informed of certain findings of irregularities related to the project dossiers of 22 users of the Erasmus+ grant financed by the European Commission. As a result, a reimbursement of EUR 2.276.212 is being requested,” Gjorgievski said.

Gjorgievski stressed the Agency is open for cooperation and with its resources and documents is ready to aid the investigation of the Prosecutor’s Office and the Financial Police Office.

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