ROMANIA:President Traian Basescu has lambasted his justice minister for allegedly blocking high-profile corruption investigations into leading politicians, as Bucharest struggles to convince the European Union that it is serious about fighting graft.
Mr Basescu authorised the investigations, as required by Romanian law, but was then furious to discover that acting justice minister Teodor Melescanu had failed to forward the dossiers of evidence to prosecutors, citing a lack of proper documentation.
"I am worried about your refusal to pass on my requests for criminal investigations," Mr Basescu wrote to Mr Melescanu. "The minister is coming close to abusing his position." The president - who is locked in a power struggle with prime minister Calin Tariceanu and his Liberal Party, of which Mr Melescanu is a member - ordered the justice minister to forward the files immediately or face disciplinary procedures.
"I warn you that if you don't, you are committing an abuse and I will not hesitate to take action," Mr Basescu said, accusing Mr Melescanu of "trying to serve political interests".
"I would like it if the government didn't try to block the justice system," he railed.
The highest-profile suspect is Adrian Nastase, a former prime minister from the Social Democratic Party, which emerged from the Communist Party that folded after the 1989 revolution that toppled dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
Other former ministers suspected of bribery and corruption include four members of the Liberal Party, which joined forces with the ex-communists to oust Mr Basescu's allies from the cabinet last April.
Those removed included Monica Macovei, a justice minister credited by senior EU officials with leading Romania's drive against corruption.
Since then, Bucharest has come under increasing pressure from Brussels to prove its commitment to rooting out graft or face losing some of the €32 billion in EU funding it stands to receive over the next five years.
Mr Melescanu, who became interim justice minister after Tudor Chiuariu was accused of corruption, insisted he was only following proper procedures.
"Checking the documents received from the presidency . . . these were incomplete . . . The dossiers were missing, so the justice minister could not forward the files to prosecutors," the ministry said.
But Mr Basescu rebuffed those claims, and warned that opening the indictments could compromise the investigations and allow crucial facts to become public.
