Romania doesn't 'take orders' from abroad: interim president

(BUCHAREST) - Romania's president doesn't "take orders" from abroad, interim president Crin Antonescu said on Friday.

"The president of Romania, even the interim president, doesn't take orders... from anyone except parliament and the Romanian people," Antonescu said in a speech.

His comments came the same day Brussels officials told Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta to fix his ex-communist country's political crisis.

Antonescu condemned reports that European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso had given Ponta a "to-do list". He said the reports were not accurate.

EU officials are fretting over Ponta's use of decrees to strip powers from the constitutional court as part of a campaign to impeach his conservative rival President Traian Basescu, who was last week suspended by lawmakers.

Voters will decide in a July 29 referendum whether to impeach him, and the constitutional court will rule on the outcome of the vote.