Radio România Internațional

Tag: organised crime

  • March 6, 2025

    March 6, 2025

    EU The interim President of Romania Ilie Bolojan had a meeting in Brussels on Thursday with the PM of Poland, Donald Tusk, the topics approached by the 2 officials including the strengthening of NATO’s Eastern Flank. Mr Bolojan takes part in an extraordinary European Council meeting, where EU heads of state and government are discussing support for Ukraine and European defence. The president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zeleskyy and the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte were also invited to attend. The European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has already sent European leaders a plan to re-arm Europe, with 5 financing instruments: increasing national defence budgets, a EUR 150 bln loan for common defence projects, possible financing from the bloc’s cohesion funds, from the European Investment Bank and private funds. The plan also increases military aid to Ukraine. Last week, Mr. Ilie Bolojan invited the political parties in the Romanian Parliament to consultations, to discuss Romania’s response to the current security challenges. Most parties opposed Romania sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine, in the event of an end to the conflict with Russia, but voiced willingness, in principle, for Romania to continue supporting the neighbouring country.

     

     

    TREASON Prosecutors with the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism Offences (DIICOT) have detained six individuals over charges of forming an organised crime group and treason. According to DIICOT, the defendants apparently set up a paramilitary organisation and negotiated Romania’s exit from NATO with Russian agents. Prosecutors say that the organised crime group was structured like a military-type organisation, with management ranks and operative personnel. Radu Theodoru, a retired general and 101-year-old war veteran, was also among the organisation’s leaders. The group used online platforms to release video materials and recruit members. At the same time, it took steps to hold negotiations with foreign political and military actors regarding the replacing of the current constitutional order. In January, DIICOT also says, 2 of the defendants travelled to Moscow, where they came into contact with people willing to support the organisation’s efforts to take over power in Romania.

     

     

    GOVERNMENT The Romanian government is set to pass several emergency orders today, concerning, among other things, the heathcare reform and the spending of EU funds. In the field of healthcare, the government wants to improve regulations on public medical care for freelancers, on the taxation of medicines, on the organisation and operation of medical offices and the granting of sick leaves. In a separate emergency order, the Romanian government earmarks the financing for certain local authorities to complete works to extend and upgrade natural gas infrastructure. Finally, the cabinet is also to approve the amount of this year’s state aid for the livestock sector.

     

     

    EU FUNDING Romania has received over EUR 100 billion in European funds since its accession on January 1, 2007, the minister of investments and European projects, Marcel Boloş, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday. According to him, Romania is no longer an economic periphery, but a country that is rapidly catching up and has surpassed Poland, Hungary, Croatia and Greece in terms of GDP per capita, an essential indicator of the standard of living. If we are reckless, we blame the European bloc, but the fact that we are at the best moment of our country’s development is due to our EU and NATO membership, Mr. Boloş emphasised.

     

     

    TRAVEL Romanian tourism increased slightly in the first month of this year, compared to January 2024, with 12% more nights spent in tourist accommodation units, says the National Tourism Agency. Over 84% of visitors were Romanians, with an average length of stay of almost two days, while foreigners stayed in accommodation facilities for slightly more than two days. According to experts, the upward trend will continue this year, when it could exceed the level reported in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

     

     

    FOOTBALL The Romanian football champions FCSB take on the French team Olympique Lyon in Bucharest tonight, in the Europa League round of 16. The return leg will take place in France on March 13. The Romanian team qualified for the round of 16 of the Europa League, after outplaying the Greek team PAOK Thessaloniki, coached by the Romanian Răzvan Lucescu. (AMP)

  • June 22, 2024 UPDATE

    June 22, 2024 UPDATE

     

    WEATHER Weather experts in Romania have issued a number of alerts for Sunday, June 23, concerning extreme heat and significant heat stress in most of the country. A code red alert for extreme heat will be in place the south of Romania. The heat wave will be persistent and temperatures will be extremely high for the 5th consecutive day, reaching 38-39 degrees Celsius, with lows around 20 degrees.

     

    EMPLOYMENT The number of public sector employees in Romania in April 2024 was 1,292,549,up 3,009 since the previous month, according to data made public by the finance ministry. Of the over 826,000 employees in the central public administration, more than 600,000 were working in institutions fully funded from the state budget. The largest number of such positions was reported in the education ministry (302,230), followed by the interior ministry (123,859), defence ministry (73,818), finance ministry (24,762) and health ministry (18,156). Working in local public administration institutions this April were 466,308 people, of whom 286,443 in institutions fully funded from local budgets and 179,865 in institutions fully or partly financed from other revenues.

     

    DISINFORMATION The Romanian foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed in Washington a Memorandum of Understanding on countering information manipulation. Among other things, the document provides for the coordinated development of relevant strategies, as well as for the involvement of independent media, civil society and the academia in fighting disinformation. According to a news release, the two officials have also reviewed the progress made by Romania towards inclusion in the Visa Waiver Programme, and have reconfirmed their commitment to close cooperation in view of reaching this goal as soon as possible. During her visit to the US, organised in the context of celebrating 20 years since Romania joined NATO, the Romanian diplomacy chief also had meetings with the National Security Council senior director for Europe Michael Carpenter, with whom she discussed items on the Romanian-US economic and security agenda, as well as regional developments and preparations for the forthcoming NATO Summit in Washington. Also, during a meeting with Samantha Power, USAID administrator, Luminiţa Odobescu highlighted the two countries’ shared interest in strengthening the resilience of partners in the Black Sea region, with a focus on the Republic of Moldova.

     

    ORGANISED CRIME The Romanian interior minister Cătălin Predoiu had a meeting with the British ambassador to Bucharest, Giles Matthew Portman. The talks focused on measures to be taken in order to curb transnational organised crime. According to the interior ministry, another topic approached by the 2 officials was improving the efficiency of police work, including institutional reforms, so as to handle current challenges. Predoiu highlighted the very good cooperation between the two countries, as well as the opportunities to further develop it under the Romanian-British Strategic Partnership. The Romanian official pointed out that border protection is a priority for Romania, whose goal is to strengthen and protect the Schengen area. Mr. Predoiu also mentioned that the implementation of the Pact on migration and asylum would be both a challenge for the Member States, and an opportunity to improve national migration and asylum management systems.

     

    FESTIVAL Sibiu, in central Romania, is hosting the 31st International Theatre Festival (FITS). For 10 days, the public can choose from as many as 830 events, including theatre performances, music, dance, circus, exhibitions and public reading sessions, which bring together over 5,000 artists from 82 countries. Internationally acclaimed actors, directors and writers such as John Malkovich, Tim Robbins, Pippo delBono and Neil LaBute are also expected to attend. Many of the international productions in FITS may be viewed online this year, on the online platform “Scena Digitală” of the Sibiu “Radu Stanca” National Theatre, the main organiser of FITS 2024. “In terms of the number of participants, the number of partners, the diversity of projects in the festival, I believe this is the most complex cultural event in Romania and a major one at international level,” said the culture minister Raluca Turcan, who attended several events in the Festival, including the opening of the Romania-Poland Cultural Season, the first in the history of the 2 countries’ bilateral relations.

     

    SWIMMING The Romanian swimmer David Popovici defended his gold at the 200m freestyle event in the European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade, after also winning the 100m freestyle race. The next challenge for the Romanian swimmer is the Olympic competition, in which Romania will be represented by 93 athletes. The latest one to qualify is the wrestler Răzvan Arnăuţ, in the 60kg Greco-Roman category, after the International Olympic Committee disqualified several Russian and Byelorussian athletes. (AMP)

  • June 4, 2024

    June 4, 2024

     

    INVESTIGATION Scores of house search warrants are enforced today by the Organised Crime Service of the Romanian police and by prosecutors with the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism Offences (DIICOT), as part of a criminal investigation into organised crime and migrant smuggling, the illegal crossing of Romania’s state borders, facilitating illegal stay in Romania and money laundering. The searches are conducted in the west and centre of the country and in Bucharest. An organised crime group is probed into for illegally obtaining work permits for nearly 1,200 foreign nationals, mostly from Pakistan and Bangladesh. DIICOT prosecutors are working together with anti-corruption prosecutors who are investigating corruption-related offences. A former interior ministry employee allegedly initiated and formed an organised crime group using several companies, with one of the group’s operations involving former and current interior ministry staff. The migrants reportedly paid EUR 500 to 1,000 for a work permit, and the group would collect as much as EUR 5,000-6,000 per person to expedite procedures.

     

    BANKING The foreign currency reserves of the National Bank of Romania exceeded EUR 65 bln at the end of May, up 4.1% compared to the previous month. According to the central bank, Romania’s international reserves (foreign currency plus gold) are currently around EUR 72.2 bln.

     

    DEFENCE The Romanian defence minister, Angel Tîlvăr had a meeting on Monday with the interim chief of the European Commission representation in Romania, Mara Roman, on which occasion he pointed out that the EU’s strategic approach to the Black Sea region must include support for the countries in the region, which are facing hybrid threats and the spill-over of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. According to the defence ministry, Angel Tilvar highlighted the support provided by Romania to Ukraine and to the Republic of Moldova. The participants also emphasised the increasingly important role played by the European Commission in supporting EU member states in the defence and security area, and the need to further develop the relations between the EU and NATO.

     

    TEACHERS In Romania, students, teachers and other education staff will have a day off on Wednesday, to celebrate Teachers’ Day. This day is marked every year on June 5, the birthday of the great professor Gheorghe Lazăr, the founder of Romanian modern education. Summer break begins on Friday, June 21.

     

    ATTACK The Syrian national who Monday threw a Molotov cocktail at the entrance of the Israeli Embassy building in Bucharest was arrested. The police say the attack was caused by personal grievances related to his visa application, and not by the Israeli operations in Gaza. The Ambassador of Israel to Bucharest, Reuven Azar, described the incident as a terror attack and praised the prompt response of the Romanian police.

     

    FOOTBALL Romania’s national football team is playing Bulgaria tonight and Liechtenstein on Friday, June 7, in two friendly matches ahead of the European Championship due to kick off on June 14 in Germany. Bucharest will host both matches. Romania was drawn in Group E alongside Ukraine, Belgium and Slovakia. The national team will play Ukraine on June 17 in Munich, Belgium on June 22 in Cologne, and finally Slovakia on June 26, in Frankfurt. Romania last took part in a European Championship in 2016 in France. (AMP)

  • March 3, 2024 UPDATE

    March 3, 2024 UPDATE

    MOTION – The Romanian MPs will debate, on Monday, the simple motion tabled by the opposition against Finance Minister, Marcel Boloş. USR and the Force of the Right blame him, among other things, for having initiated the 10% tax to additionally to medical leaves. The vote is scheduled for Tuesday. Also on Monday, the draft law that allows holding presidential elections sooner, in September, will be debated by the expert committees of the Chamber of Deputies, as a decision-making body. In the form adopted by the Senate, the document provides that presidential elections can be held no later than 90 days before the month in which the head of state’s mandate expires. The law establishing tougher punishments for drug traffickers will also receive the final vote in the Bucharest Parliament. Drug production and trafficking are the biggest criminal business in the European Union, said the Minister of Justice, Alina Gorghiu, the initiator of this project.

    CELEBRATION – The celebration of the Romanian-Polish Solidarity Day on March 3rd is proof of the historical friendship between Romania and Poland and of the joint commitment to deepening the Strategic Partnership and strengthening cooperation within the EU and NATO, a post by the Romanian Government, on a social network, reads. The Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Romania and Poland issued a joint press release on the occasion of the celebration. The Romanian-Polish Solidarity Day proves the partnership between the two nations, united by common historical experiences and the will to strengthen bilateral relations, the press release says. As EU member states and NATO Allies, Romania and Poland remain firmly committed to supporting Ukraine in its efforts to counter Russia’s armed aggression, as well as to restoring the international order based on the principles of international law. 2024 marks 105 years of bilateral diplomatic relations, 85 years since Romania offered shelter to the Polish government, which, outside its borders, began the fight against the Nazi German occupiers, 35 years since the fall of communism and 15 years of strategic partnership.

    JAI – The EU home affairs and justice ministers are meeting, on Monday and Tuesday, in Brussels, at the Justice and Home Affairs Council. The meeting’s agenda includes the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime, the security situation in the context of the conflict in the Middle East, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and a legislative proposal regarding the fight against the illegal introduction of migrants. On Monday, European home affairs ministers will have an exchange of views on the general situation of the Schengen area and on the evaluation of the EU legislative act establishing Frontex. Another important topic is the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime. The second day of the meeting is dedicated to the justice component, the agenda including, among other things, a recently approved directive on the minimum standards for preventing and combating the illegal introduction of migrants. Its objective is to increase the effectiveness of criminal prosecution of migrant smuggling networks by clarifying the definition of the crime of smuggling and harmonizing sanctions.

    POLICE – The Interior Ministry in Bucharest will increase the number of Romanian policemen who cooperate with Italian policemen in order to identify organized crime members operating in Romania, the head of the relevant Romanian ministry, Catalin Predoiu said. In a video post on the Interior Ministry’s website, Predoiu says that he has recently decided with his counterpart, Matteo Piantedosi, to develop police cooperation to combat organized crime, drug trafficking and human trafficking by exchanging information and by joint operative actions. Predoiu says that, for the Bucharest authorities, the connection with the national police of other EU member states, such as the Italian one, represents an investment in the ability of the Romanian Police to fight organized crime. The two ministers also discussed the practice of some convicted citizens who avoid final prison sentences by fleeing Romania and finding loopholes in Italian law not to observe court rulings.

    JERUSALEM – Thousands of people took to the streets again, Saturday evening, in several cities in Israel, against the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and to demand the release of the hostages held by the Palestinian terrorists from Hamas, dpa reports. The agency reports that Netanyahu’s popularity dropped drastically after the attack, with critics accusing him of failing to protect the border with the Gaza Strip in order to prioritize his own political survival, at the expense of the country’s interests. (EE)

  • May 3, 2017 UPDATE

    May 3, 2017 UPDATE


    ORGANISED CRIME – Police and prosecutors with the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) on Wednesday conducted home searches in Bucharest and several counties in Romania, targeting an organised crime group in a case involving the National Freight Railways Corporation. Forty people, including the current and the former managers of the corporation, are suspected of having set up an organised crime group, of aggravated embezzlement, forgery and fraud. The group members allegedly under-appraised in 2016 assets belonging to the company, before selling nearly 2,500 freight cars intended for scrapping. The difference between the actual worth and the under-assessed worth of the goods went, according to the police, into the accounts of a company that collected ferrous scrap metal. As a result, the Corporation incurred losses of over 6.3 million euros.



    PRESS FREEDOM – Press used as a tool of propaganda and the involution of quality journalism are the main characteristics of the Romania media in the past year, reads the latest Active Watch report on press freedom. The main problems identified by the report, published on Wednesday on World Press Freedom Day, are propaganda, public intoxication, disinformation, threats and biased speeches. Journalism is still used abusively by some people in order to intimidate, blackmail or influence peddle, and the serious professional misconduct of some news televisions has triggered reaction on the part of the audience and civil society. According to the report, the former leadership of the public radio started an aggressive campaign against the bill on the separation of the offices of president and director general of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation. This campaign was sanctioned by the National Audiovisual Council for bias. Also, the leadership of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation harassed, by means of internal investigations, the radio journalists who notified such cases of misconduct and issued an order establishing restrictions with regard to journalists liberty to report cases of professional and legal misconduct. Previously, a report drawn up by Reports without Borders, published last week, ranked Romania 46th out of 180 countries in the world press freedom index. Romania went up 3 places since last year.



    EU COUNCIL – The Romanian Foreign Ministry organised in Bucharest on Wednesday a conference on the Romanian presidency of the EU Council, in the first half of 2019. Romania has the opportunity to set a new fresh and dynamic pace that would help the rebirth of the European project, said the Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu in his message to the participants in the conference. In turn, the Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu announced that, while holding the six-month presidency of the EU Council, Bucharest will take action to accelerate the integration of the Balkan countries and will organise an eastern partnership summit. The European Affairs Minister Ana Birchall stated that the EU Council presidency is a national project for Romania and, although the times will be difficult, the challenge can be turned into an opportunity.



    BREXIT – Britain will not pay 100 billion euros to leave the EU, the Finance Secretary David Davis said on Wednesday, after British media reported that the EU negotiators had revised their original figures. The new bill, 40 billion euros higher than previous estimates, includes the payment of farming subsidies and administrative fees to the EU. Other elements taken into account are the budget of the UK and the EU investment expenditure. The revision of estimates indicates a tougher position taken by the 27 member states with respect to Britains demands. The EUs chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier presented the priorities for the first stage of negotiations: reaching an agreement on the method of calculation of Britains financial obligations, protecting the rights of the European citizens living in Great Britain and the external borders issue. Michel Barnier did not provide an estimate for the amount that Great Britain should pay to the EU, but stressed the fact that the financial agreement did not entail punishing the country. The date of the official divorce was set for March 29, 2019, unless an extension is agreed on by decision-makers.



    FRENCH ELECTION – According to the latest opinion poll made public on Wednesday, Emanuel Macron, the candidate of the social-liberal civic organisation En Marche!, is very likely to win the second round of the presidential elections to be held in France on Sunday, Le Figaro reports. According to the poll conducted by Ipsos, Macron is supported by 59% of the voters, while Marine Le Pen, running for the National Front, would only get 41%. The on-line poll was run between April 30 – May 1, and covered a representative sample of 13,742 people.



    MOLDOVA – The presence of any troops or military bases headed and controlled by other countries, on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, is against the Constitution, Moldovas Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday. The president of the Constitutional Court, Alexandru Tănase, explained that although the legislation makes it clear that “the Republic of Moldova does not allow the deployment of foreign military on its territory,” there are still Russian Federation troops in the pro-Russian breakaway region of Transdniester.



    TOURISM – Check-ins in Romanian accommodation units in the first quarter of the year totalled more than 2 million people, up around 11% compared to the same period of 2016, according to data made public on Wednesday by the National Statistics Institute. Most of the foreign tourists came from Europe (76.2% of the total), especially from Germany, Italy, and the UK. Last year the number of foreign tourists was nearly 11% larger than in 2015, namely 2.5 million, a record for the last few decades.



    WRESTLING – The Romanian athlete Andrei Dukov won the silver in the 57-kilo freestyle category, on Tuesday, at the European Wrestling Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia. Defeated in the final by the Georgian-born Azeri Giorgi Edisherashvili, Dukov improved his performance since last year, when he won bronze in the continental championship. Also on Tuesday, on the first day of the competition, the Romanian Alina Vuc won the bronze in the 48 kilogram category, after defeating the Polish Anna Lukasiak. Romania, which has already reached its two medal target for this competition, is taking part in the European Championship in Novi Sad with 14 athletes.




  • May 3, 2017

    May 3, 2017

    ORGANISED CRIME – Police and prosecutors with the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) have today conducted home searches in Bucharest and several counties in Romania, targeting an organised crime group in a case involving the National Freight Railways Corporation. Forty people, including the current and the former managers of the corporation, are suspected of having set up an organised crime group, aggravated embezzlement, forgery and fraud. The group members allegedly under-appraised in 2016 assets belonging to the company, before selling nearly 2,500 freight cars intended for scrapping. The difference between the actual worth and the under-assessed worth of the goods went, according to the police, into the accounts of a company that collected ferrous scrap metal. As a result, the Corporation incurred losses of over 6.3 million euros.




    PRESS FREEDOM – “Journalists are intimidated not just in authoritarian regimes, but also in countries that are usually regarded as democratic, the president of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani said in a message on World Press Freedom Day, celebrated today. A former journalist himself, Tajani mentions as negative examples Turkey, Russia and China, and says the EU is the strongest defender of the freedom of expression all over the world. World Press Freedom Day is celebrated in Bucharest as well, with the launch of the FreeEx Report on press freedom in Romania in 2016-2017, which looks at the main events with an impact on the freedom of expression. Previously, a similar report drawn up by Reporters without Borders (RSF) and released last week ranked Romania 46th out of 180 countries in terms of press freedom. “The excessive politicising of the mass-media, corrupt financing mechanisms, editorial policies subordinated to owner interests and the intelligence agency infiltration of staff – such has been the impact of the medias transformation into political propaganda tools, which has been particularly visible in election years, reads the RSF report. Romania went up 3 places since last year, when it was 49th in this ranking.




    TOURISM – Check-ins in Romanian accommodation units in the first quarter of the year totalled more than 2 million people, up around 11% compared to the same period of 2016, according to data made public today by the National Statistics Institute. Most of the foreign tourists came from Europe (76.2% of the total), especially from Germany, Italy, and the UK. Last year the number of foreign tourists was nearly 11% larger than in 2015, namely 2.5 million, a record for the last few decades.




    BREXIT – Britain will not pay 100 billion euros to leave the EU, the Brexit Secretary David Davis said today, after British media reported that the EU negotiators have revised their original figures. The new bill, 40 billion euros higher than previous estimates, includes the payment of farming subsidies and administrative fees to the EU. Other elements taken into account are the budget of the UK and the EU investment expenditure. The revision of estimates indicates a tougher position taken by the 27 member states with respect to Britains demands. Today, the EU chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, will present detailed guidelines for the EU side. The date of the official divorce was set for March 29, 2019, unless an extension is agreed on by decision-makers.




    MOLDOVA – The presence of any troops or military bases headed and controlled by other countries, on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, is against the Constitution, Moldovas Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday. The president of the Constitutional Court, Alexandru Tănase, explained that although the legislation makes it clear that the Republic of Moldova does not allow the deployment of foreign military on its territory, there are still Russian Federation troops in the pro-Russian breakaway region of Transdniester.




    WRESTLING – The Romanian athlete Andrei Dukov won the silver in the 57-kilo freestyle category, on Tuesday, at the European Wrestling Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia. Defeated in the final by the Georgian-born Azeri Giorgi Edisherashvili, Dukov improved his performance since last year, when he won bronze in the continental championship. Also on Tuesday, on the first day of the competition, the Romanian Alina Vuc won the bronze in the 48 kilo category, after defeating the Polish Anna Lukasiak. Romania, which has already reached its two medal target for this competition, is taking part in the European Championship in Novi Sad with 14 athletes.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • EC Report on Romanian Judiciary

    EC Report on Romanian Judiciary

    On January 1st 2007 when Romania was admitted into the European Union, this country was yet to convince its western partners that it complied with all community benchmarks in the judicial field. This is why the European Commission established the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism to assess the progress made by Romania and the neighbouring Bulgaria in the reform of their judicial systems and the fight against corruption and organised crime.



    The 2015 report on Romania has been positive for the third consecutive year and, according to its government, proves the durable and sustainable nature of the countrys justice reforms and of its fight against corruption. The National Anticorruption Directorate has reported an increase in the number of signals from the public, which appears to reflect the publics confidence in this institution, something also indicated by opinion polls. Public support for action against corruption was considered to be a strong factor in the street demonstrations leading to the resignation of the Social Democrat prime minister Victor Ponta in November 2015.



    Last year, the National Anticorruption Directorate indicted more than 1,250 defendants, including prime minister Ponta himself, as well as former ministers, members of parliament, mayors, county council presidents, judges, prosecutors and a wide variety of senior officials, the European Commission report also notes.



    However, the Commission has criticised Parliament for refusing requests from the National Anticorruption Directorate for the lifting of immunity of members of parliament to allow for the opening of investigations without giving clear and consistent motivation for refusals.



    In 2016, Brussels expects Romania to focus on preventing corruption and providing the necessary conditions for judges to carry on their work. The Commission also recommends Romania to conduct a more thorough assessment of the integrity of the candidates in this years local and parliamentary elections.



    Romania is making progress towards reaching the objectives laid down in the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, says president Klaus Iohannis, adding that its commitment to the consolidation of the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary is irreversible. In the opinion of the justice minister Raluca Pruna, the report gives Bucharest hope that the mechanism may be lifted in the near future. Senate speaker Calin Popescu Tariceanu has described the report as unfair, while his counterpart in the Chamber of Deputies Valeriu Zgonea says the report should be a wake-up call for MPs and the way in which they have sometimes treated important matters. The latter has admitted to the need for more political will to respond to the peoples legitimate desire to see Parliament represent their interests.

  • Anti-Corruption Measures

    Anti-Corruption Measures

    Organised crime groups have been increasingly dangerous in the last 10 years, and this puts EU countries in a complex situation, said Rob Wainwright, the head of Europol.



    In an interview on Radio Romania, he said that some of the groups involved originated in Romania. At the same time, he told the national channel, since that was uncovered, the national police had had a great response. He said his organization and Romanian law enforcement helped each other, preventing those groups from acting in various countries in Europe, at the same time identifying foreign criminals in Romania, as that is also a problem.



    Wainwright added that Europol had the benefit of working with many Romanian police officers who have some of the most advanced knowledge and skills needed in fighting organized crime and cybercrime.



    Last year, dozens of Romanian children were saved from human traffickers in Europol’s largest operation. The children were supposed to be sent abroad to beg or to be put to work. Over 1,000 people were accused of constituting organized crime, human and drug trafficking rings. The operation involved all 28 member states, Romania included.



    In this country it is believed that most organized crime stems from corruption. Also, most Romanians believe that the National Anti-Corruption Directorate is one of the most solid state institutions. According to a recent poll, that organization has an 80% approval rating and is the top institution in terms of how it is perceived to fight corruption. The explanation of that result has to do both with the huge dissatisfaction caused by large-scale corruption among Romanians, as well as by the visibility and frequency with which that institution has been prosecuting corruption.



    In the poll run between 5 and 10 February 2015 on a 1065 strong sample representative for Romanians aged 18 and over, the Anti-Corruption Directorate is followed by the Romanian Intelligence Service, with over 69%, the Presidency, with almost 62%, the General Prosecutor’s Office, the National Integrity Agency, the Police and the media. The government and Parliament hold the last two places in the poll.