March 29 (SeeNews) - The European Commission urged Romania on Friday to ensure fair treatment of the top candidate to head the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) Laura Codruta Kovesi - the ousted chief of the country's anti-corruption agency.
"We call on the Romanian government and on the Romanian authorities to fully respect the principle of sincere cooperation as enshrined in the treaty regarding the selection procedure of the European chief prosecutor," European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said during a press briefing in Brussels, as seen in a video file posted on the Commission's website. "It is crucial that all candidates put forward by an independent selection panel are treated fairly in the course of this process."
Also on Friday, the president of the European Parliament (EP) Antonio Tajani expressed his concern about Kovesi's indictment in Romania.
"Concerned by news that Laura Codruta Kovesi has been placed under judicial control. The EP stands by its candidate for European Public Prosecutor. I'll raise the issue at the EP group leaders' meeting next Wednesday," Tajani said in a Twitter post.
Kovesi was indicted and put under judicial control for bribery and abuse of office by a special investigative unit for magistrates, according to a statement released by the Romanian prosecutor's office on Friday. According to the document, she is not allowed to speak to the media about her file or to leave the country.
"It's a measure intended to silence me, to harass all of us in the judicial system who did our jobs," Kovesi told reporters after a six-hour hearing on Thursday. She also said that she will challenge the indictment at the Supreme Court.
While the EP endorses Kovesi for the EPPO post, the EU council is supporting French prosecutor Jean-Francois Bohnert for the job. The second round of negotiations between the two institutions ended with no result on Thursday.
Kovesi was nominated for the job at EPPO in February, but Romanian justice minister Tudorel Toader publicly made it clear that he is not in favour of her candidacy. Toader was also the one who sought and finally achieved Kovesi's dismissal in July, claiming she had allegedly damaged Romania's image abroad.
Currently, DNA is led by an interim because in January Romanian president Klaus Iohannis repeatedly refused to appoint Adina Florea as head of the institution.