Although the case was seen as a test of the country's judicial reform, Romanian legislators overwhelmingly rejected the bid to strip Adrian Nastase and former Minister of Transport Miron Mitrea from their judicial immunity, during an extraordinary session on 13 August.
Nastase, 58, led an ex-communist government between 2000 and 2004. Despite denying any wrongdoing, he is having difficulty explaining how he managed to amass a personal fortune estimated at several million euros.
The parliamentary vote came less than a month after the European Union said Romania was dragging its feet in fighting corruption, especially among senior officials. Nevertheless, while the Commission report was rather generous to Romania, Bulgaria was stripped of EU funds amounting to several hundred million euros for failing to carry out judicial reform and fighting corruption (EurActiv 24/07/08).
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) leader Graham Watson warned that the Romanian Parliament's decision will make it very difficult for the country to obtain a positive assessment from the Commission in the next progress report on Justice and Home Affairs.
"It's a pity that the Parliament is trying to shelter someone suspected of rather significant wrongdoing," said Watson, quoted by the Romanian press.
Party of European Socialists (PES) Vice President Hannes Swoboda also lamented the Romanian Parliament's decision.
"In general, Parliament should not interfere with corruption accusations," Swoboda said.
Several articles in the Romanian press condemned the legislators' move. Cristian Tudor Popescu, the chief editor of the daily Gandul, wrote that "justice has been dismissed on the territory of Romania".
Western media also employed strong language in reaction to the decision by the parliament in Bucharest. Robert Schwartz, director for Romania at Deutsche Welle, said "corruption rules in the Romanian Parliament". "Parliament shelters Nastase," read a Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung headline.
"The extraordinary session of the Parliament proves that high-ranking politicians in Romania accused of corruption should not fear justice," the influential German daily wrote.
