Fight against corruption remains recorded in DNA of current Moldovan governance, PM says

Chisinau, 12 July /MOLDPRES/ - Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita today met European Chief Prosecutor Laura Codruta Kövesi. The sides referred to the developments registered in the process of reforming the justice and perspectives of Moldova’s cooperation with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), through the carrying out of exchange of experience and operational cooperation in the field of fighting the financial fraud and contraband, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.     

The prime minister said that the zero priority of the cabinet remained the combating of corruption. Gavrilita noted that the law-enforcement bodies of Moldova already undertook a string of actions for investigating big cases of corruption, identifying and recovering assets transferred abroad and de-classifying the offshores.    

Thus, new mechanisms were created, which will allow instrumenting criminal files in the lack of the defendant and sentencing the offenders who fled Moldova, even if they are not in the country. The cabinet also approved the enforcement of the mechanism of extended confiscation of assets gained by illicit means. At the same time, the PM touched upon the reform of the prosecutor’s office, of the judicial system and the adoption of the pre-vetting law, based on which the integrity of potential candidates for the position of member of the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) and Superior Council of Prosecutors (CSP) will be verified.   

„Starting from the first months, we prioritized the reformation of the justice system. We will not be able to integrate into the great European family and neither we will be able to develop as country without a truthful reform. We are open to cooperate with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, in order to find together efficient ways to make the changes quickly and with impact and the fight against corruption will remain recorded in the DNA of this governance,’’ Natalia Gavrilita said.    

For her part, Laura Codruta Kövesi appreciated the effort made by the authorities to get the status of country candidate for accession to EU. She stressed that the actions undertaken so far by the government and the reforms underway were backed by EPPO: ‘’I am here to convey you this message of support. We clear see that you want a change and, although the reforms last, the most complicates part is the change of mentalities, not of systems.’’    

The sides also discussed the cooperation between the criminal prosecution bodies of Moldova and prosecutors of EPPO, the first criminal prosecution institution at the level of EU. In this respect, an agreement on cooperation is to be signed, which will facilitate the exchange of strategic information between EPPO and the Prosecutor General’s Office, as well as the extradition of the people put on a wanted list.

Photo: Government