Romanian cop Marian Godina, included in Politico’s ranking on Europe’s shapers in 2017

Newsroom 07/12/2016 | 09:25

The Romanian cop Marian Godina, 30, is included in the ranking of Brussels-based Politico publication, which named 28 people that are likely to shape the European Union and the world in 2017 and beyond.

Politico has included 17 men and 11 women from 28 different countries from the worlds of politics, business, media and the arts.

Godina, who is a social media star in Romania and the author of two books, was included in the ranking on position 27.

The London mayor Sadiq Khan was placed on the first position, while the cofounder of the anti-euro Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Frauke Petry, came second. Irish businessman Michael O’Leary, the CEO of airline Ryanair, was placed third.

“Earlier this year, Marian Godina’s boss called him to his office. The 30-year-old traffic cop in the Transylvanian city of Braşov had confiscated the license of a driver who had nearly hit a pedestrian. His boss’ objection: The woman in the passenger seat was the local director of the Red Cross, and when she had informed him that she knew his superiors, he had told her to stay in the car while he finished writing his report.

Not a problem. Godina posted about the incident on his Facebook page. Within two days, the local prosecutors had placed his superiors under investigation for abuse of office. By the end of the week, the national police union had called for the resignation of the head of the police department,” wrote Politico about the cop.

In last year’s ranking, Politico named Romanian Laura Codruta Kovesi, the head of the anti-graft institution DNA, as one of the people that would shape the EU this year.