Financial Times; Apr 23, 2003
Romania pins anti-corruption hopes on its modern-day Vlad the Impaler By Phelim McAleer
Ioan Amarie, the Romanian anti-corruption prosecutor, proudly shows visitors the statue of Vlad the Impaler, the 15th-century Romanian leader, which sits in the foyer at his new offices.
The statue belongs to the previous tenants but Mr Amarie wants to keep it as a role model for his officers.
Although Vlad is better known in the west as the historical model for Dracula, the fictional vampire, in Romania he is remembered with fondness and for very different reasons.
Vlad the Impaler was the first Romanian leader to expel successfully the Turkish invaders but his reign was also known for being virtually crime-free. Modern Romanians and many foreign investors long for the return of that golden age.
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