Romania, if the author's current location is also where this ordeal took place.

I just looked that up to be sure; the article itself has a very strong eastern Europe vibe to it. I was figuring it would be Bulgaria, Slovakia, or Romania initially.

Every country. Swap out some insignificant details and its the story of my friend in the US, swap some more and its the story of a former boss from Germany.

Likely Romania based on the author's name & location.