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Romanian prime minister praises protests against him

Grindeanu says controversial changes to laws on corruption will go ahead — but with parliament’s approval.

Romanian Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu says he’s happy to see citizens involved in politics — even when that means hundreds of thousands of them protesting against his government.

Grindeanu struck a conciliatory note on his first visit to Brussels after Romanians staged the largest demonstrations since the fall of Communism over a decree that protesters feared would let corrupt politicians avoid prosecution.

“I want to look at the good part of what happened: The civic part of our society reacted on this topic. It’s a very good thing for the country,” he told POLITICO. “This is a plus for our society, a plus that in future we need to ensure we don’t lose, no matter the areas in which there will be some debate.”

The Social Democrat Grindeanu visited Brussels at the end of last week intending to reassure EU leaders that Romania was committed to fighting corruption and preserving European values, despite the crisis caused by the emergency decree, which the government was forced to repeal.

Grindeanu has been accused by opponents of being a place-man installed by his party leader Liviu Dragnea, who could not become prime minister due to a suspended jail sentence for trying to rig the results of a referendum. But Grindeanu, who was previously president of a county council in western Romania, mounted a staunch and at times defiant defense of his government.

“Do you want me to list them for you?” he said of the measures he has already taken. He noted he had pushed through an ambitious plan to raise the minimum wage and to cut social security contributions on small pensions. “They are not as juicy as the things we’re talking about, but I believe they’re important,” Grindeanu said.

Late-night decree

In the late evening of January 31, Grindeanu’s cabinet passed an emergency decree the government said was intended to bring the criminal code into line with a Constitutional Court decision by defining the crime of “abuse of office.” The decree said offenses by public workers that involved a sum higher than €45,000 would be criminally prosecuted — and anything less wouldn’t.

In a country that is monitored by the European Commission because of its bad corruption record, the move set off a chain of protests. Facing calls for resignations and protesters yelling in front of the government building every evening, Grindeanu scrapped the decree five days later.

“Any decision that you take as a politician which leads to some sort of actions like protests — even though it can be correct when you did it — it’s clear that you have to take a step back if you are a responsible politician and if you want to do things the right way,” Grindeanu said in an interview Friday.

He said the content of the decree, and the government’s intentions, had been badly communicated. Public officials would not escape prosecution for corruption involving sums under €45,000 — they would just be charged with another offense, such as bribery.

The government still had to go ahead with the changes, but would do so through the normal legislative procedure, which involves the parliament, Grindeanu said.

“Now there is a legal void, there is a decision from the Constitutional Court that had to be put into practice in 45 days and it was not done,” he said. “This can lead to rulings where people are acquitted and where the abuse of office is decriminalized.”

The European Commission, which initially came out with a strong warning to the Romanian government, softened its tone after the decree was repealed. But Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans noted that bringing national law into line with the ruling of the Constitutional Court should be done with “maximum openness” to “avoid any misunderstandings.”

“If this process is now done in complete transparency, with the full involvement of the NGO community and other stakeholders, then I believe the European Commission can be fairly confident that … the fight against corruption will be maintained at the same intensity as before,” Timmermans said at a news conference with Grindeanu last week.

Asked whether the protests showed people distrusted the Social Democratic Party, Grindeanu brought up the party’s decisive victory in December parliamentary elections with more than 45 percent of the vote.

“When it comes to confidence, Romanians decided [who they trust] at the ballot box,” he said.