Viorica Dăncilă

Romanian human rights activists expressed anger on Tuesday after the country's anti-discrimination council decided the previous day that Prime Minister Viorica Dancila did not offend people with autism spectrum disorder when she called MEPs "autistic" for opposing changes to the country's justice system.

The National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD) on Monday established that the affirmation of Prime Minister Viorica Dancila about the "autistic" people who "misinform" in Brussels stays within the limits of freedom of expression and does not qualify as discrimination.

Romania's Justice Minister, Tudorel Toader, on Thursday, said he had started the procedure to dismiss the country's anti-graft chief prosecutor, Laura Codruta Kovesi, for alleged mismanagement of the National Anticorruption Directorate, DNA.

The decentralisation project should not be abandoned, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila told a meeting of the General Assembly of the National Union of Romania's County Councils hosted by Parliament Palace in Bucharest on Thursday.

The ongoing convention of the General Assembly of Romania's County Councils (AGCJR) is a good opportunity to discuss and highlight the most important issues related to the balancing of local budgets for the current year, the use of the 2017 budget surplus, investments that can be conducted under governmental programmes, European funds and, last but not least, public procurement, Chairma

AGERPRES special correspondent Daniel Florea reports: The President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday told the Romanian Prime minister Viorica Dancila on her two-day official visit in Brussels that he "trusts very much Romania's judiciary" and that he is not necessarily "very worried" about the situation in our country.

The chief prosecutor of Romania's National Anti-corruption Directorate, Laura Codruta Kovesi, stated Wednesday that she had no reason to relinquish her post, defending the work of the organization and her subordinates despite accusations of falsified evidence and witness intimidation from former MPs - some of whom have been impacted by the directorate's work.

Prime Minister Viorica Dancila announced that the activity of each minister in her Cabinet will be assessed on a monthly basis, together with the leaders of the Social Democrat Party (PSD) - the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) coalition, Liviu Dragnea and Calin Popescu Tariceanu.

Romania's new Social Democrat government, led by the country's first woman Prime Minister, Viorica Dancila, was sworn in on Monday.

However, there was criticism from the opposition about the alleged lack of expertise among some ministers and about a governance plan that has raised fears of further economic uncertainty.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday agreed to appoint Social Democrat MEP Viorica Dancila as the country's first ever woman prime minister.

Dancila, 55, was nominated by the ruling Social Democrat Party on Tuesday to head Romania's third cabinet in the last year.