BUCHAREST, April 9 (Reuters) – Romania’s centrist leader Nicusor Dan selected seven new chief prosecutors and their deputies on Wednesday evening, moving forward with the appointments despite strong objections from advocacy groups and the nation’s highest judicial oversight authority. The decision has intensified worries about Romania’s weakening efforts to combat corruption.
Transparency International has consistently placed Romania among the European Union’s most corruption-plagued nations.
The European Union maintained special oversight of Romania’s judicial system following the country’s 2007 EU membership, but anti-corruption investigations have decelerated since this monitoring ended in 2023. Recent high-profile acquittals by the courts have heightened fears that the nation’s anti-corruption drive is losing steam.
Dan selected Cristina Chiriac for the role of prosecutor general, named Viorel Cerbu to head the DNA anti-corruption prosecution office, and chose Codrin Miron to lead DIICOT, the anti-organized crime prosecution unit, along with four deputy positions.
Chiriac’s selection as Prosecutor General drew the heaviest criticism, with advocacy organizations and investigative reporters alleging she concealed evidence regarding sexual abuse committed by a bishop who was subsequently found guilty. Chiriac has rejected these claims.
“The expectation I now have from the prosecuting units … is to speed up activity to meet Romanians’ expectations, because Romanians see corruption, both high-level and in their daily interaction with state authorities,” Dan stated to members of the press.
Romanian legal procedures require the president to select chief judges and prosecutors from candidates recommended by the justice minister, with review by the CSM judicial regulator, although CSM approval is not required by law.
Justice Minister Radu Marinescu, who belongs to the leftist Social Democrats – the dominant party in the coalition government – maintained his support for these candidates even after the CSM repeatedly declined to endorse them.
“The appointments … are a big mistake,” former justice minister Stelian Ion wrote on his Facebook page. “To so easily ignore CSM’s … negative opinion does not bode well.”
Dan has stood by his selections, explaining that he reached his conclusions following extensive conversations with prosecutors.
“(The appointments) are the right choice for the time we live in,” stated Dan, who secured his first five-year presidential term nearly a year ago. “If for some reason I am wrong, I will be penalised in four years.”
