Laura Codruta Kovesi

Romania's Anti-Discrimination Council on Wednesday fined the country's centre-right President, Klaus Iohannis, for calling politicians investigated for corruption "criminals" in a speech defending anti-graft institutions and prosecutors.

"The term 'criminal' that the President used in his speech exceeds the limits of free speech," a press release issued by the council stated.

A study conducted Europewide shows that 68 percent of Romanians perceive corruption as a phenomenon that affects their daily lives, Chief Prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) Laura Codruta Kovesi told a debate on Tuesday on corruption in Romania's public healthcare system.

Romania's President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday that he will not approve a set of justice bills passed by the Social Democrat-led parliament last week because they threaten the rule of law.

Iohannis said that he would send the bills to Romania's Constitutional Court and will also notify the Council of Europe's Venice Commission.

Justice Minister Tudorel Toader announced that the notification after President Klaus Iohannis's refusal to dismiss chief anti-graft prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi, will get to the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) on Monday.

French ambassador to Romania Michele Ramis said on Friday in Constanta that French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian's meeting at the embassy's Bucharest premises with Chief Prosecutor of the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) Laura Codruta Kovesi had not been kept under the cloak of secrecy.

President Klaus Iohannis announced on Monday that he does not remove from office Laura Codruta Kovesi as Chief Prosecutor of the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA).

The Judicial Inspection (IJ) announced on Wednesday that it was pursuing disciplinary action against chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) Laura Codruta Kovesi over the prosecutor's appointment to a control team of a magistrate in an obvious state of incompatibility.

Chief Prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) Laura Codruta Kovesi told AGERPRES on Tuesday that DNA had co-operated with the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) before 2013 as well, as requests under the protocol between the two bodies were signed by her predecessor Daniel Morar himself.

Preparations for the next European Commission's evaluation mission under the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism (MCV) that reports on Romania's progress with judiciary reform and the fight against corruption were the objective of a meeting of the CVM board at the headquarters of the Justice Ministry (MJ).

Prosecutor General Augustin Lazar tells AGERPRES in a recent interview that the "noise" around the judiciary in Romania must not impress anyone in the justice system, as it is necessary to secure "uncompromised" institutions and a firm rule of law at European level.