Romania’s justice minister has vowed to do everything in his power to block his own country’s lauded candidate for the new role of EU public prosecutor.

Laura Codruţa Kövesi won plaudits as Romania’s anti-corruption tsar for her bold attempts to stamp out graft in one of the EU’s most corrupt member states. As head of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA), she went after prime ministers, sitting and former ministers, mayors and members of parliament, before her dismissal on the orders of the justice minister, Tudorel Toader, in July 2018.

This week Toader told the Romanian website Stiripesurse that the EU was unaware of the “abuses committed by Laura Codruţa Kövesi” when she led the DNA, and promised to send the reasons for her dismissal to his fellow EU justice ministers.

Toader’s comments turn the spotlight on his country’s pervasive corruption. Last November, the European commission warned Romania the fight against corruption was going backwards, highlighting pressure on the DNA. Some European diplomats think Romania should be subject to the EU’s rule-of-law sanction procedure, if the government follows through with proposals for an amnesty to wipe the slate clean for politicians convicted of corruption.

An independent selection panel of judges and prosecutors Codruţa Kövesi to be the best choice to lead the new EU agency, which will be dedicated to tackling cross-border VAT crime and fraud against the EU budget. A letter from the selection panel to the council of EU ministers and European parliament, seen by the Guardian, places Codruţa Kövesi as preferred choice, ahead of a French and German candidate.

In an interview with the Guardian in 2015, Codruţa Kövesi said the Romanian government was always trying “to deprive us of our tools to limit our possibilities of investigation”.

Under her leadership, the DNA secured the conviction for abuse of office of the most powerful politician in Romania, Liviu Dragnea. He is leader of the Social Democratic party, currently ruling Romania with centre-right liberals, and is seen as the ringleader of efforts to rewrite laws on corruption.

The government’s attempts to decriminalise corruption have led to some of the biggest street protests in Romania since the fall of communism, while ringing alarm bells in Brussels.

Romania, which currently holds the EU rotating presidency, cannot veto the EPPO appointment. The selection panel’s choice must be approved by a majority of EU member states and the European parliament, meaning no single country can block any candidate.

The European public prosecutor’s office was set up by 22 of the EU’s 28 member states in 2017, including Romania. The agency is due to launch by the end of next year at the latest.