(8 Oct 2019) For Romania's Laura Codruta Kovesi, opposition to her successful candidacy for Chief European Prosecutor came from a familiar source - her own country's government.
Kovesi, who will lead the 28-nation bloc's new public prosecutor's office, is well placed to deal with any political pressure coming her way.
She spent five years as the head of the Romanian Anti-corruption Directorate — known as the DNA — achieving remarkable results.
Those indicted included 14 Cabinet members, 53 lawmakers and a member of the European Parliament, among others.
Still, she was removed by the governing Social Democrats in July 2018, an act many in Romania believe was political retaliation for her department's successes.
With Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila and others openly advocating against her, Kovesi called her EU appointment a vote of confidence for all prosecutors and judges in her country.
"I think it's an appreciation for how our justice system fought against corruption, but, more importantly, an appreciation of all Romanians who supported the rule of law and European values in the last couple of years," Kovesi said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Kovesi, 46, became Romania's youngest Prosecutor General in 2006 and served for six years before her stint at the DNA.
Now, she will direct the European Public Prosecutor's Office - or EPPO - tasked with investigating fraud connected to the use of EU funds and other financial crimes.
The Luxembourg-based office is expected to begin operations late next year.
A report released in January by the European Court of Auditors revealed that the EU lost nine billion euros (9.88 billion US dollars) between 2002 and 2017 to fraud, of which only 2.6 billion euros were recovered based on investigations conducted by OLAF, the European Anti-Fraud Office.
So far, 22 of the 28 EU member states have decided to participate in EPPO, with Sweden also thinking about joining the office, which will be the bloc's first institution for prosecutors meant to achieve a consolidated approach across member states in fighting fraud committed with EU funds.
"I think all European states realised that this is a Europe-wide phenomena - the illegal use of European funds - and that they need a unified approach" to investigate, Kovesi said.
Her reputation and achievements as head of the Romania's anti-corruption office were welcomed in Western Europe, but Hungary and Poland, for instance, are not taking part in EPPO.
Romania did sign on, but its government did everything it could to prevent Kovesi from getting the job.
Prime Minister Viorica Dancila even publicly instructed Romania's EU ambassador to vote against Kovesi.
"The ultimate consensus over my candidacy, I think, is a sign for our justice system," Kovesi said. "If you do your job in a professional manner, you will succeed."
Before Dancila, former Social Democratic strongman Liviu Dragnea was the driving force behind the campaign against Kovesi.
Dragnea and his parliamentary majority changed laws and tried to undermine judicial independence. His actions, before being convicted and going to jail for corruption in May, were widely criticized by the EU.
Kovesi wasn't even wholeheartedly endorsed by former President Traian Basescu, who had appointed her to lead the DNA in 2013, who said Kovesi had done "a lot of harm" to Romania's judicial system - comments that came after the DNA investigated his brother and sent him to jail.
Despite her popularity, Kovesi vehemently rejected running for office, saying she had been asked hundreds of times about it.
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