Suspended Eulex prosecutor has emerged as a folk hero to many ordinary Kosovans

Julian Borger
The Guardian, Wednesday 5 November 2014 18.35 GMT

As soon as Maria Bamieh decided to go to the press with allegations of corruption and cover-up, officials from the EU’s rule of law mission began briefing aggressively against her, depicting her as a mediocre prosecutor, bitter and possibly unbalanced at having been made redundant.

“They made her sound like some kind of bag-woman,” said a former colleague.

5 November 2014 Last updated at 12:38 GMT

The EU says an independent legal expert will investigate alleged corruption in the EU's rule of law mission in Kosovo.

The mission, called Eulex, is mired in allegations that some of its officials took bribes in return for dropping three cases involving organised crime.

A British prosecutor at Eulex, Maria Bamieh, was suspended after some secret Eulex documents were leaked.

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini will appoint an independent legal expert to probe Eulex.

Allegations of cover-up as UK prosecutor is dismissed after finding evidence of possible bribe-taking in Kosovo mission

Julian Borger in Pristina
The Guardian, Wednesday 5 November 2014 16.01 GMT

The EU is struggling to contain its worst foreign policy crisis in recent years after a whistleblower claimed that evidence of corruption in its biggest foreign mission – which is intended to strengthen the rule of law in Kosovo – was covered up.