The police are dealing with the drawing of grants for the Albertov campus and security at Charles University

Prague - Police have initiated criminal proceedings over suspicions of a crime affecting the interests of the European Union concerning the drawing of subsidies for the construction of the Charles University (CU) campus in Prague's Albertov, amounting to several billion crowns. They are also looking into contracts related to security at the university, wrote Deník N today. The criminal justice authorities have not contacted CU regarding Albertov, responded the school's spokesperson Jan Bumba for ČTK. Meanwhile, on Friday, the academic senate of Charles University will elect a rector. There are five candidates, including the current rector Milena Králíčková.

"Currently, the matter is in the investigation phase. And we do not have any information regarding the case that we could disclose," said Jan Daněk, spokesperson for the Prague police, to the server. According to information from Deník N, investigators began looking into the case at the beginning of this summer at the behest of the European Prosecutor's Office. The European delegated prosecutor suspects that there may be issues with the millions for the construction of the university campus from the European budget. Problems may also exist with contracts related to security at the university.

According to the server, the police have approached the Ministry of Education regarding the case, which is responsible for distributing European funds from the operational program Jan Amos Komenský. According to Deník N, the police are interested in the money that flowed from the so-called quality call, in which universities could apply for funds during the last academic year.

"The ministry has been informed about this matter; however, due to the ongoing investigation by law enforcement, we will not comment further on the issue," stated the office spokesperson Veronika Lucká Loosová according to the server.

"Law enforcement has not contacted Charles University about anything regarding Albertov," Bumba told ČTK. In case CU is requested, they will provide the police with full cooperation, he added.

Five people want to lead Charles University - besides the current rector Králíčková, analytical chemist and long-term dean of the Faculty of Science at CU Jiří Zima is also a candidate, as well as the current vice-rector for scientific and creative activities Ladislav Krištoufek, kinanthropologist František Zahálka, and geochemist Martin Mihaljevič. The four-year term of the newly elected rector will begin in February next year. The university is the largest and oldest Czech higher education institution, with 17 faculties. According to statistics from the Ministry of Education, approximately 53,000 students were enrolled last year.