Romania rocked by protests over new graft law

Amid growing criticism of Romania from abroad, the country's president said Thursday he will ask judges to declare unconstitutional an emergency government decree that dilutes what qualifies as corruption.

Huge protests erupted in the capital and spread to cities around Romania in the past two nights after the government changed the law — one of the biggest protests in Romania since communism ended in 1989.

President Klaus Iohannis said he will take the decree to the Constitutional Court, the last legal resort to stop the law by the ruling centre-left Social Democrats.

The government passed the ordinance early Wednesday to decriminalize cases of official misconduct if the funds involved are less than 200,000 lei (about $62,000 Cdn). Critics say the measure helps government allies and other officials facing corruption charges and will encourage officials to steal on the job.

European Commission vice president Frank Timmermans urged the Romanian government on Thursday to "urgently reconsider" the decree, warning that if it is adopted, it could affect the EU funds that Romania gets.

In a separate statement, the U.S., Germany, Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, and France said Romania's government had undermined "progress on rule of law and the fight against corruption over the past ten years."

Even some prominent Social Democrats were upset with the move.

Business Environment Minister Florin Jianu announced his resignation Thursday, saying he disagreed with the government's stance on corruption. Mihai Chirica, the mayor of Iasi and a deputy chairman of the Social Democrats, called on the government to scrap the decree and send it to Parliament for debate and approval. He said Justice Minister Florin Iordache should resign.

Iordache, who has come under heavy fire for publishing the decree, will temporarily hand his duties over to a subordinate, a spokeswoman said.

Eight people were injured during clashes late Wednesday between police and protesters and 20 people were detained.

While protests have mainly been peaceful, Romanian media were reporting football hooligans had been sent to the protests to incite violence.