Dacian Ciolos, leader of the Renew Europe Group in the European Parliament, recommends to Minister of Justice Catalin Predoiu to urgently send to the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) the number of prosecutors requested by Laura Codruta Kovesi.
The statements were made after, according to Dacian Ciolos, in the 2019 report of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) Romania is on the first place in number of investigations and recommendations received.
"According to OLAF, we are, as a country, first in 2019 in investigations and recommendations received. Just as concerning is the fact that, since 2015 until the end of 2019, we are second in Europe, after Spain, in possible frauds and irregularities regarding structural funds and also second, after Hungary, in what regards investigations that resulted in recommendations. Practically, Hungary and we share equally 35 pct of the cases of grave irregularities with European funds in the European Union. Maybe that way you can understand why the PSD [Social Democratic Party] leaders have always seen a model in Viktor Orban. (...) In these conditions, I recommend as seriously as possible to the Minister of Justice to send urgently to EPPO the number of prosecutors requested by European prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi. Any delay raises serious question marks," wrote Ciolos, on Thursday, on Facebook.
He showed Romania is listed in the report with several examples of fraud in the area of environment protection.
"Extremely unpleasant is also the fact that we are present in the OLAF report with many examples of fraud in the area of environment protection in the past 5 years. From the examples present in the report, Romania is listed for fraud in forest protection, aquaculture and waste management. The subjects presented overlap perfectly with a series of legitimate concerns of the Romanian society," mentioned the PLUS chairman.
Dacian Ciolos maintains that, in our country, the political sphere ignored the demands of the citizens and that "so many good things" could have been accomplished for Romania.
"We have new proof that, when we feel the air is unbreathable in Romania, this is due not to the fact that we are different from other Europeans. The difference is that we allowed thieves to steal more and without fear," Ciolos wrote.