Croatian national security is at stake because criminal organizations have infiltrated the MUP identity document issuing system, which stores the personal information of Croatian citizens and residents, according to Željko Cvrtila, a national security expert and former police chief.

"Low wages, lack of internal oversight, political recruiting, and the interference of politics and money within MUP (Croatia Ministry of the Interior) are the main reasons for the appearance of Croatian identity documents on the illegal market," he added during a brief interview to Renata Škudar/Nacional on November 29, 2019.

Is Croatia's national security at stake?

“This is endangering national security, because Croatia’s document issuing system has been infiltrated, and a lot of original identity cards and passports have fallen into the hands of criminal organizations. The system has been penetrated because the intelligence and security networks in our neighboring eastern states are connected to criminal organizations in these countries and with criminal groups in Croatia. All of this is happening on Croatian territory and that is our biggest problem."

How did so many Croatian documents appear on the illegal market?

"The MUP system is intertwined with various political lobbies and people who are not subject to internal oversight. Procedures are not being properly implemented and the people in charge of these systems are not doing their jobs. There is a lack of oversight regarding employee resources and criminal organizations can easily exert their influence in such a permeable system. The system only works when corrupt politicians and the mafia aren't interfering in politics and business, or providing and returning favors. Otherwise, we’ll have chaos where crime reigns,” concluded Cvrtila.

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