The five-year mandate of European Chief Prosecutor Laura Codruța Kovesi is coming to an end, and she presented on Wednesday the annual report of the European Public Prosecutor's Office: "The level of fraud affecting the EU budget has been underestimated."

European Chief Prosecutor Laura Codruța Kovesi, whose five-year term ends on October 31, stated on Wednesday that, upon her arrival at the head of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), the level of fraud affecting the EU budget was underestimated.

"We did what we had to do. Not gradually, in a distant future, but from the very first day, at maximum speed, with resources that have never been proportional to the scale of the task. (...) The level of fraud affecting the EU budget has been underestimated," said Laura Codruța Kovesi during the presentation of the institution's annual report within the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament.