Romanian Prosecutor Loses EU Council Vote For EPPO Leadership

Romanian prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi, who is considered the frontrunner to lead the upcoming European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), lost a secret vote held by the ambassadors of EU states to French prosecutor Jean-Francois Bohnert, according to sources quoted by news site New Europe.

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According to the aforementioned sources, Bohnert won the EU Council ambassador vote with 50 points, while Kovesi and German prosecutor Andres Ritter both scored 29.

The vote is not binding, as the three candidates will be interviewed by European Parliament committees next week. Following negotiations in the Parliament, one of the three will be proposed for the office, with the EU legislative body needed to approve the decision by a two-thirds majority.

Kovesi was listed first in the order of the selection committee’s preferences on the three-prosecutor shortlist announced by European Parliament Chairman Antonio Tajani on February 4. However, the Romanian magistrate accused attempts to derail her bid from authorities in Bucharest, after the magistrate investigation section launched an inquiry into suspected offences she committed in the 2011 repatriation of a fugitive businessman, while she was the country’s general prosecutor.

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