A Showdown Looms in Europe’s Most Corrupt Region

Crusade or witch-hunt? Romania’s chief anti-graft prosecutor is now pursuing the leader of the country’s biggest party.

A cardboard cut-out depicting Liviu Dragnea is hanged during a protest against the justice minister and corruption in Bucharest on February 25, 2018. 

Photographer: DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP/Getty Images

Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

She’s rarely alone, but she cuts a lonely figure in the most corrupt part of Europe.

Romania’s chief anti-corruption prosecutor, Laura Codruta Kovesi, has investigated 60 top-ranking officials, including a prime minister, and more than 40 lawmakers and other wealthy Romanians over the past four years. Now her biggest moment is coming: a showdown with the man in charge.

Up Next
A Showdown Looms in Europe’s Most Corrupt Region