Laura Codruța Kovesi, coffee and tears of corrupt. Interview in the Greek press with the head of the European Prosecutor's Office

European chief prosecutor Laura Codruța Kovesi spoke for the Kathimerini newspaper about the message she wanted to convey to her presence in Athens, Cites Rador Radio Romania.

The presence of the chief prosecutor of the European Prosecutor's Office, Laura Codruța Kovesi, in Athens, last week, has acquired mythical proportions in Greece, both among her supporters and among those who combat her activity, reports the Elen Kathimerini daily.

Those concerned about the rule of law and corruption issues see it as a savior, others look at it with suspicion, as a factor that mixes in internal political affairs. She herself seems to not preach her words. With its caustic remarks, she manages to electrify both camps – both supporters and critics.

Kovesi says she is used to attracting attention and producing first page titles. She is accustomed to this, as she himself recalls, from the beginning of her career, when she received attacks from the government of her country, Romania, while trying to start corruption scandals. “I was criticized because I speak too political and in other Member States, there is nothing new,” she says in an interview with Kathimerini newspaper.

“They trust us”

“Only tyrants are loved everywhere,” she says in this regard. “I am a prosecutor and I speak as a prosecutor, but they must all understand that when we find some things in our investigations, when we see that national law is not in accordance with European law, it is our duty to signal this, if this makes the investigation difficult.”

If she is loved or not left her rather indifferent, she says. “What I liked in Greece is that, after the investigations started, the citizens started to trust our work. Maybe we showed them that the law is equal to everyone and that we are hard to do this. Obviously, we cannot solve all the problems, but at least we go to the hard time.

“As a prosecutor, you cannot be loved by everyone. I do not want to be loved by criminals, but if the citizens respect us and trust us, this is our goal,” she says, also wanting to shatter and a tissue myth around her name: “It is said that in the morning I do not drink coffee.

His latest visit to Athens, last week, had the main goal to make public the “Calypso” investigation, the operation of the European Smuggling Prosecutor's Office in China, the largest operation of this kind so far. The initial plan was to organize a press conference next to the thousands of containers that were confiscated, but the rain “moved” the conference inside the customs building, on a narrow corridor, quite inappropriate for the large number of journalists who had gathered.

Around her there is a small team of collaborators: the head of the Executive Office of the European Public Prosecutor, Milan Jaron, the responsible prosecutor for surveys in Greece, Nikolaos Paschalis, the communication manager, Hollevoet, and two guards.

Consolidation of the Greek office

Kovesi said that, during meetings with Greek ministers, he received assurances from the Government that the staff of the Athens office will be consolidated with several prosecutors and more experts to help in investigations, both from the customs authority and from the police. He also received assurances that the Greek government intends to make the necessary changes in Article 86 of the Constitution on ministerial liability. “I was told that the government supports this. Let's see what it will be,” she says, shrugging with a smile.

“I have never had the habit of commenting on what politicians say, but it is a fact that in two cases-in the case of tempi (railway accident) and in the case of Opekepe (agriculture subsidies)-we faced a situation that prevented our investigation,” she says. “This does not mean that I am a politician, I am a prosecutor who believes that nothing can prevent a criminal investigation from advancing until the end.”

She mentions that she may have received many threats, but does not talk about them. He declares himself proud of his team from Athens and what he has achieved, despite the intimidation attempts, as she says. It asks the governments with which it cooperates not to consider the European Prosecutor's Office as a foreign censor, but rather as an ally, and recalls that the money confiscated from investigations eventually goes to the state budget.

About the file of agriculture subsidies

The European prosecutor describes the scandal of agricultural subsidies in Greece as “synonymous with corruption, nepotism and clientelism”, but stresses that European agricultural funds have become the target of corruption networks in Europe. “We have noticed fraud cases with agricultural subsidies in almost all Member States, the difference consists of the extent and number of cases. In Greece I discovered that the criminal activity was very systematic and very well organized, with the participation of high -ranking officials.”

As she explains, this is a case that has started to be examined since the creation of the European Prosecutor's Office. “Initially, we are investigating small cases with different farmers, until we realized it was a systemic. This was not obvious from the beginning. So we decided to treat it as a single investigation. We tried to bring together more cases, but it is still very difficult, because we have thousands of people investigated and we only have 10 prosecutors, who need other cases.”