Ooni Koda
  1. Home
  2. /
  3. Newsfeed
  4. /
  5. EU Says Romanian Fight Against Crime on Track,...

EU Says Romanian Fight Against Crime on Track, Bulgaria Stalls

January 29, 2015

(Bloomberg) -- Romania has achieved “impressive” progress in fighting high-level corruption and organized crime, while Bulgarian policy changes stalled on political turmoil, the European Union said in a report on the bloc’s poorest states.

“Romania is on the right course and needs to stick to it. Tackling corruption remains the biggest challenge and the biggest priority,” European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans said in a statement. Bulgaria’s judicial reform progress “has been slow” on political uncertainty and “further steps are needed,” he said.

The two countries that joined the 28-nation bloc in 2007 are judged to be among the EU’s most corrupt along with Greece and Italy, according to Berlin-based research organization Transparency International. The Black Sea nations have had repeated warnings to fight corruption harder to ensure a fair distribution of EU aid. Romania, the bigger of the two, stands to receive 35 billion euros ($40 billion) in EU aid through 2020. Bulgaria will get about 16 billion euros.

“Responses to the well-known problems in area of corruption and organized crime have remained piecemeal and lacking in overall strategic direction,” the commission said about Bulgaria. “There are very few examples where high-level cases of corruption or organized crime have been brought to conclusion in court.”

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov regained power on Nov. 7 after five government changes in two years. His first government was ousted by anti-austerity protests in 2013. The Socialist administration of former premier Plamen Oresharski resigned in July following the failure of the country’s fourth-largest lender and protests against a corrupt political system.
Efforts Intensified

Bulgaria’s parliament adopted a judicial reform strategy last week, which needs “to be implemented for change to be convincingly shown,” the commission said.

Romania’s new President Klaus Iohannis pledged to continue fighting corruption and urged Parliament to lift the immunity of all lawmakers under investigation. Romania’s efforts to curb graft intensified before presidential elections last year as prosecutors probed high-profile politicians from Prime Minister Victor Ponta’s party, businessmen and a constitution court judge. The cases involved Microsoft licenses, election fraud and tax evasion.

Former Romanian Economy Minister Codrut Seres and former Communication Minister Zsolt Nagy were sentenced to prison this week for undermining state economy.

“The action taken by the key judicial and integrity institutions to address high-level corruption has maintained an impressive momentum,” the commission said about Romania. “Many legislative issues remain outstanding” and “there continues to be inconsistency in some court decisions, which raises concern.”

The commission will continue monitoring the two countries and will issue the next two reports in one year, the commission said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Slav Okov in Sofia at [email protected]; Andra Timu in Bucharest at [email protected]

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James M. Gomez at[email protected] Elizabeth Konstantinova, Andras Gergely

The text of this article has been partially taken from the publication:
Read in full - click here
Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest: Festival announces 2025 dates, first program highlights

The 16th edition of Les Films de Cannes, the festival showcasing productions awarded or selected at the Cannes film festival, returns this fall to Bucharest and four other cities in the country. The winner of this year's Palme d'Or, Jafar Panahi's It Was Just an Accident, will be screened at the event, as will be […]

Eastern Romania: Natural sciences museum in Galaţi reopens after EUR 3 million modernization works

Răsvan Angheluţă Natural Sciences Museum in Galaţi is scheduled to reopen on September 20, after the completion of modernization works worth over 15.1 million lei (approximately EUR 3 million) carried out by the County Council through the recovery and resilience facility PNRR.  The building hosts an Aquarium, an Astronomical Observatory, a Planetarium, and temporary exhibitions. […]

Romanian paramedics team named best in the world

A team of Romanian paramedics won first place at the World Rescue Challenge 2025, a competition that sees first responders and trauma teams from around the world develop new skills and share knowledge. This year, the competition took place in Karlovac, Croatia, and was attended by two Romanian paramedics from Bucharest who have been working […]

Romanian auction house Artmark registers record EUR 15 mln sales in 2024-2025

Artmark, one of Romania’s leading auction houses, registered record sales of over EUR 15 million despite economic instability, showing the growth potential of the national art market, according to the company’s 2024-2025 market report.  Overall, auction sales totaled EUR 11 million, up 8.2% compared to the previous year, while sales through the “Dependent de Artă” […]

DefCamp 2025 turns Bucharest into the regional cybersecurity hub at its 15th edition, hosted at the Palace of the Parliament

Cybersecurity has become a major global priority, impacting individual users, companies, organizations, and public institutions. Social engineering, deepfakes, digital manipulation, and coordinated geopolitical attacks are fundamentally reshaping how we view the digital future. In this context, DefCamp, the largest cybersecurity and hacking conference in Central and Eastern Europe, reaffirms its role as a strategic hub […]

Romanian airline AnimaWings targets 18-aircraft fleet worth over USD 1 bln by end-2027

Romanian airline AnimaWings has received its fifth Airbus aircraft, an A220-300, as part of an ambitious expansion plan to build a fleet of 18 planes by the end of 2027, valued at over USD 1 billion.  The A220-300 is the airline’s third of this type and will serve both domestic and international routes. Configured with […]