Former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has quit the country amid a corruption inquiry, but reportedly denies fleeing from prosecution.
Mr Sanader, now an independent MP, crossed the border into Slovenia hours before parliament voted to lift his immunity from prosecution.
Investigators have been focusing on officials from the ruling HDZ party who were in office under Mr Sanader.
Brussels has put pressure on EU-hopeful Croatia to stamp out corruption.
Mr Sanader was in power from 2003 until he stepped down in July 2009 in a surprise move.
He was expelled from the HDZ in January but carried on as an independent MP, and so he still enjoyed immunity from prosecution.
But all 104 parliamentarians present at the vote chose to lift his immunity.
The BBC's Balkans correspondent Mark Lowen says Mr Sanader has been linked to corruption allegations involving the Austrian bank Hypo, and he is the highest-profile politician in the country to be facing investigation. BBC News
