Corruption in Romania

Monica Macovei, considered to be the face of the fight against corruption in Romania, said that she's ready to visit Bulgaria and help Bulgarian President-elect Rumen Radev, sharing here experience fighting against corruption, in an interview with private TV station BIT.

Prosecutors from Romania's National Anticorruption Directorate on Tuesday arrested the head of the Permanent Electoral Authority, AEP, Ana Maria Patru, and charged her with influence peddling and money laundering.

Patru, 40, faces three accounts of influence peddling and two accounts of money laundering committed between 2007 and 2015.

National Anticorruption Directorate prosecutors carried out searches on Tuesday at the Permanent Electoral Authority, AEP headquarters in Bucharest.

Their target was the head of the AEP, Ana Maria Patru, who according to Anticorruption Directorate sources is under investigation for alleged influence peddling and possible money laundering committed from 2008 to 2015.

Head prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), Laura Codruta Kovesi, has stated, in an interview granted to AGERPRES, that prosecutors are worried more by the "dramatic effects" that corruption has, than by attacks coming from persons under investigation.

A Spanish prosecutor will be incorporated as part of the European Commission's supervision on the Bulgarian judicial system, Spain's acting Justice Minister Rafael Catalá told Bulgarian journalists on Thursday.

In an article published on Friday, Politico.eu notes the divergent paths Bulgaria and Romania have taken in their efforts to fight corruption, with Bucharest making progress and Sofia lagging behind.

The articles focuses on the role of Romania's National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), which has made a deep impact in a country known for public malfeasance and mismanagement.

Romania has made progress in fighting corruption and in judicial reform, but 2016 is a test year that will show if recent progress is sustainable, a new European Commission report issued under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, CVM, said.

While praising Bulgaria's new reforms strategies, the European Commission has complained of a lack of results in delivering justice and halting corruption and organized crime in its annual country report issued under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, CVM.

The Netherlands strongly believes that the law applies evenly and the recent evolutions in the Parliament raise broader issues as regards the attitude towards Justice and corruption in Romania, the Embassy of this state in Bucharest specifies in a Facebook post.

Justice Minister Robert Cazanciuc has submitted to President Klaus Iohannis his recommendation for Daniel Constantin Horodniceanu to be appointed chief prosecutor of the Directorate for Investigation of Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT).

Photo credit: (c) Silviu MATEI / AGERPRES PHOTO