EU Ambassadors in Bucharest met with members of the Romanian Parliament to voice their discontent over the country's non-compliance with previous commitments to crackdown on corruption.
Robin Barnett, the UK Ambassador, criticised recent decisions by the Constitutional Court whereby all investigations of high-ranking politicians must be sanctioned by the Parliament.
In passing the decision, the Parliament effectively provided shelter to former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase and former Transport Minister Miron Mitrea, who are both being prosecuted for corruption.
The recent measures serve only to raise obstacles to the fight against corruption, Barnett was quoted as saying in the Romanian press. The British envoy also voiced dismay at a new decision whereby indictees are notified in advance of searches carried out on their premises by the judicial authorities.
"In case criminals consider Romania as a judicial haven inside the EU, all the member countries will be affected," Barnett said.
A similar position was expressed by Dutch Ambassador Jaap Werner, who warned that the EU expects the Romanian Parliament to contribute to the fight against corruption instead of upsetting judicial inquiries. He also expressed his regret that decisions cannot be taken in Parliament to prosecute high-ranking politicians, because MPs regularly fail to show up at plenary sessions, which then fall short of the necessary attendance to pass a vote.
Over the past year, several decisions by Romanian lawmakers marked a regression in the fight against corruption. In 2007, the Romanian Parliament amended the Criminal Code to require prosecutors to give advance warning prior to any searches involving political figures.
