Romania's 'Citizen' PM Spurns Official Motorcade

Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos on Friday announced he is no longer using the traditional motorcade when going to work, as he does not need it and doesn't want to hamper the traffic in an already congested Bucharest.  

"I agree with the minimal protection requirements needed by a dignitary. But we have to understand that even a PM is first a citizen, with the same rights as anyone else, and only afterwards a person in an important, but anyway temporary, public position," Ciolos said.

The statement came just before an important decision to be taken by parliament next week - a vote on prosecutors' request to lift the immunity of former deputy prime minister Gabriel Oprea.

Oprea, who is a Senator, may face trial over his use of motorcades that prosecutors say he was not entitled to.

Prosecutors said Oprea, who was also interior minister, used motorcades roughly five times on average a day from January 2014 through to November 2015, for official business, private visits, party meetings and even for travelling to restaurants.

His use of motorcades came to light in October, when a police officer was fatally injured while riding over a pothole while he was riding with Oprea's motorcade.

The 28-year old officer was speeding towards a traffic intersection to clear the way for the motorcade amid rainfall and low visibility.

For several days, the police and the Interior Ministry withheld information about the deadly accident.

Oprea said he was unaware that the policeman had been killed while accompanying his motorcade and insisted that he had not broken any law.

He resigned in November, alongside with Prime Minister Victor Ponta following mass protests over a deadly nightclub fire, which...