Romania's anti-graft agency denounces pressures

(BUCHAREST) - Political pressure on Romania's government anti-graft watchdog "has grown exponentially", its president told AFP on Monday, ahead of December 9 parliamentary elections.

"There have always been pressures on the National Agency for Integrity (ANI), but now they have become very aggressive," Horia Georgescu said.

The ANI was set up on the European Union's advice in 2007 to monitor assets and potential conflicts of interest for ministers, lawmakers and other civil servants.

The European Commission has praised the agency's role in fighting graft.

ANI investigations have forced ministers to resign and seen lawmakers excluded from parliament.

Earlier this month, the agency accused three ministers from the ruling centre-left coalition of conflict of interest.

They in turn accused the ANI of "taking sides in the political campaign", threatening to sue it.

Sunday, Senate speaker Crin Antonescu lashed out at the agency in a TV interview hinting that its president could be forced to leave in the future.

"Pressures are coming from all sides, be it from the opposition or from the ruling coalition, because the agency is getting results," Georgescu said.

"When the second-highest-ranking person in the Romanian state is voicing this kind of criticism, he puts political pressure on the whole agency," he added.

"Today, we either hear that ANI should be dismantled or revamped."

In a bid to make Romania step up the fight against graft, the EU has monitored the country since it joined the bloc in 2007.

The Social-Liberal Union (USL), the ruling coalition composed of Social-Democrats, Liberals and the small Conservative Party, is set to win a comfortable majority in the next election, according to recent polls.

The elections come after the Romanian government collapsed in April following a no-confidence motion in President Traian Basescu, forcing him to name opposition leader Victor Ponta as prime minister.

Ponta's USL coalition then launched a move to impeach Basescu that was heavily criticised by the international community, leading to a July referendum that failed when voter turnout fell short of the required 50-percent threshold.