Want to go after Russian sanctions' evaders: EU chief prosecutor Kovesi

The bloc has so far frozen about €18.9 billion of assets belonging to sanctioned Russian individuals and entities since Vladimir Putin's February invasion of Ukraine

The European Union’s (EU) chief prosecutor, who forged a reputation cracking down on corrupt politicians in her native Romania, says she’s itching to get to work tackling Russian sanctions evaders.  

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office, operational for just over a year now, is well-equipped to take on sanctions busting as the bloc pushes ahead with plans to make it a criminal offense under EU law and give her office the power to prosecute it as soon as possible, said Laura Codruta Kovesi.

“We’re certainly ready, we can do it,” Kovesi, 49, said in an online interview from her office in Luxembourg on