Two members of the ruling party in Germany's Parliament have been accused of profiting from COVID-19 mask deals that brought calls for closer scrutiny of lobbyists' dealings with politicians.

As pressure builds on President Petro Poroshenko's government to take a stronger line on tackling corruption, US Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch said Ukraine should fire its special anti-corruption prosecutor Nazar Kholodnytsk

Drawing immediate return fire, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Italians, whose country is caught in a vortex of instability and political volatility, need to be less corrupt, work harder and stop blaming the European Union for problems in the country’s poorer southern region.

Greece’s anti-money laundering authority has reportedly recommended that the former Chairman of Piraeus Bank, one of the country’s big four, face charges over the sale of five properties it said could be tied to his family.

The Council of Europe and its Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) said in a pair of reports that Greece needs more openness in how political parties are funded – from taxpayer subsidies – and more needs to be done to prevent corruption by lawmakers and judges.

Greece is gripped by a story the Swiss-based pharmaceutical company Novartis paid 10 rivals to the ruling party as much as 50 million euros over a decade to fix prices and control the flu shot market.