Romania to retract corruption decree after mass protests

Week-long protests convince Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu to announce repeal of law that would have watered down fight against corruption

The Romanian government has backed down from plans to decriminalise corruption offences, Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu has said, after an estimated 140,000 demonstrators took to the streets in protest against the law.

“We’ll hold an extraordinary meeting on Sunday to repeal the decree, withdraw, cancel it … and find a legal way to make sure it does not take effect,” Grindeanu said in a televised speech from the cabinet’s headquarters.

The mass protests – among the country's biggest since the 1989 fall of communist rule and the execution of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena by firing squad – entered a fifth day today. Protesters are angry the measure will water down the country’s anti-corruption fight against politicians and senior officials. The anti-corruption drive was prompted by a nightclub blaze that killed 64 people, which was blamed on corrupt officials turning a blind eye to fire regulations.

The order decriminalising some graft offences is seen as the biggest retreat on reforms since Romania joined the European Union in 2007. The decree was due to come into force at midnight on Friday. Under its proposed terms it would have decriminalised abuse of power offences when sums of less than €44,000 (£38,000) are involved.

One immediate beneficiary would have been Liviu Dragnea who leads the ruling PSD party and faces charges of defrauding the state of €24,000.

The protests have rocked the new administration less than a month since it took office on January 5.

The prime minister said the proposal would be sent to the Romanian parliament for debate, which experts warn is not likely to appease protesters, who want the proposal to be cancelled completely.

“I don’t want to divide Romania … it can’t be divided in two. Romania in this moment seems broken in two,” he said.

More than 30,000 demonstrators, many carrying national flags, whistling and blowing horns, marched peacefully towards parliament and formed a human chain around the sprawling edifice, the world's second-largest administrative building after the Pentagon.

The country’s constitutional court is expected to rule next week on whether the measure was legal. The EU had warned Romania against undoing progress against corruption.

A separate bill to go before parliament would free about 2,500 prisoners on short sentences.

The government said it was bringing legislation into line with the constitution and reducing overcrowding in prisons.