Romania Nominates New Anti-Graft Prosecutor

Romania's Justice Minister, Tudorel Toader, on Thursday named Adina Florea, a prosecutor from the Appeal Courts in Constanta, to replace Laura Codruta Kovesi as head of the country's powerful National Anti-Corruption Directorate, DNA.

Kovesi was fired on July 9 by President Klaus Iohannis after a Constitutional Court decision obliged him to comply with the Justice Minister's request to sack her.

The minister's proposal will now be submitted to the High Magistrates Council and then to the President for approval. 

At the end of July, the Ministry of Justice renewed its call for a replacement for Kovesi, after Toader on July 27 rejected all the current candidates, saying none of them met the requirements.

Only four candidates had applied for the job and Toader said none of them had prepared a proper program for the position.

Florea ran in the second round against other five candidates. Sorin Armeanu, is a senior prosecutor with the Appeal Court in Vaslui, eastern Romania. Another candidate, Gabriela Scutea, is a former deputy Attorney General from November 2006 to May 2013 and state secretary in the Ministry of Justice during the technocratic government in 2016.

Andrei Bodean is a prosecutor with the DNA in Constanta, while Paula Tanase is a prosecutor with the Appeal Court in Galati, eastern Romania, who ran against Kovesi in 2012 for the post of chief prosecutor of the DNA.

The last candidate, General Major Nicolae Lupescu, is a military prosecutor with the Supreme Court and ran for the post of organized crime chief prosecutor in 2015.

Kovesi, who ran the DNA for five years, had long been at odds with the ruling Social Democrats since the party won the elections in December 2016.

During her mandate, dozens of...