Members of the European Parliament backed Romania's former anti-corruption chief in her battle to become the first EU public prosecutor — despite opposition from her own government.

Two Parliament committees picked Laura Codruța Kövesi as their top candidate to take on the powerful new post, which will be charged with prosecuting crimes linked to the EU budget such as fraud, corruption and money laundering.

The MEPs' choice put them at odds with EU member governments, who backed French candidate Jean-François Bohnert in a vote earlier this month. Diplomats said Kövesi's candidacy in the Council of the EU was damaged by a Romanian government campaign against her. To be appointed, a candidate needs the support of both the Parliament and the Council.

Kövesi's high-profile prosecutions of corrupt politicians back home made her a hero to anti-graft campaigners but the government accused her office of breaking the law and fired her last year.

In a committee hearing at the European Parliament on Tuesday, Kövesi fought back against criticism from Bucharest as she made her pitch for the EU job.

"You have been exposed to a lot of negative information about me," Kövesi told the hearing. "I have absolutely nothing to hide."

The panel questioned Kövesi alongside the two other leading candidates for the post, Bohnert of France and Andrés Ritter of Germany.

Kövesi's opening statement garnered a round of applause. She said prosecutors need a "strong moral compass" and emphasized her experience of working under pressure.

Twenty-two EU countries are set to launch the European Public Prosecutor's Office by the end of 2020. The new body is expected to tackle some highly politically sensitive cases, and significantly empower the EU to take direct action in cases when EU funds are misused — a role that was previously the domain of member states.

"The problem for Mrs. Kövesi was probably that her government campaigned against her" — EU diplomat

The planned prosecution service is designed in part to address the weaknesses of OLAF, the EU's anti-fraud agency, which currently investigates misuse of funds but cannot itself prosecute wrongdoing.

A panel of experts appointed by the Council of the EU ranked Kövesi first among the candidates for the new post. But in a preliminary vote among EU ambassadors on Friday, Bohnert came out on top with 50 votes, while Kövesi and Ritter obtained 29 votes each.

Both Parliament committees that took part in Tuesday's hearing, however, backed Kövesi. On Wednesday, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs chose the Romanian. Twenty-six members of the committee voted for Kövesi, while 22 backed Bohnert and one opted for Ritter. The previous evening, the Budgetary Control Committee also voted in favor of Kövesi.

Senior MEPs in the Parliament's Conference of Presidents will meet early next month to consider the legislature's position, which will then go to a plenary vote later in the month.

The Romanian government's campaign against Kövesi has drawn fierce criticism from some members of the European Parliament.

"We are dismayed at the attacks against one of the selected candidates for the European Chief Prosecutor pursued by the Romanian authorities — and are concerned that they risk to undermine the integrity of the selection process," Guy Verhofstadt and Sophie in 't Veld of the liberal ALDE group wrote in a letter to Parliament President Antonio Tajani earlier this month.

Unlike her two rivals for the post, Kövesi faced a grilling from legislators from her home country on her record and domestic controversies during Tuesday's hearing.

The controversy over Kövesi has helped Bohnert's candidacy.

"The problem for Mrs. Kövesi was probably that her government campaigned against her and did not try to shore up support among member states, which is vital at the Council level," said an EU diplomat.

"I am a European judge, but I am a convinced European as well" — Jean-François Bohnert

France, meanwhile, lobbied strongly for Bohnert.

"One of the arguments France has used was 'our candidate has our government's support,' among other things," a senior EU diplomat said.

Bohnert, a senior prosecutor in his home country who has spent time at the EU's judicial cooperation agency EUROJUST, met with a warm reception at the Parliament hearing.

Addressing MEPs in French, English, and German and also quoting Konrad Adenauer, Bohnert garnered smiles and some applause. He noted that one of the goals for the new prosecutor's office would be to gain legitimacy, and emphasized his many years of experience working against VAT fraud, money laundering, corruption, organized crime and misappropriation of public funds.

"I am a European judge, but I am a convinced European as well," Bohnert said.

This article has been updated.