President On EU Criticism: Social Democrat Government Erased 11 Years Of Judicial Progresses

The Romanian head of state blame the country’s government, which he again called an “accident of Romanian democracy,” for the heavy criticism conveyed by both institutions, with regards to the ruling coalition’s judicial overhaul.

Iohannis deemed the two documents as “two very, very bad grades received by the current government,” adding that the cabinet’s sole purpose is to resolve social democrat leader Liviu Dragnea’s legal problems.

“It is clear that these two documents must be read somehow for the public to understand. They tell us that Romania returned where it was 11 years ago, before the accession, which is something we never wanted for Romania. Here is the first result of their government – they erased all progresses made in the 11 years since our accession,” said the Romanian president.

The European Commission urged Romania to immediately suspend its current judicial reform and all ongoing procedures for appointing or dismissing top prosecutors, in an extremely critical 2018 version of its Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) report for the country.

According to the report, the recently enacted judicial bills and pressures made against the independence of the judiciary have generated doubts on the irreversibility of judicial progresses made by Romania.

Also on Tuesday, the European Parliament passed a draft resolution in which it expresses concerns regarding Romania’s ongoing judicial reform process, and the state of the rule of law in the country.

The document, published on the European Parliament’s website, also contains 13 recommendations for Romania and European Union institutions regarding the country’s judicial system and fight against corruption.