Major publications from around the world have reported about the recent events and massive protests in Romania, triggered by the Government’s decision to adopt an emergency ordinance that decriminalizes some corruption offences, including abuse of office.

BBC News covered the massive protests in Bucharest in a story titled: Romania protests grow over corruption decree. “The Romanian capital, Bucharest, has seen one of its largest ever anti-government protests after a decree was passed that could free dozens of officials jailed for corruption,” the British news publication reports.

Other international publication also reported about the huge protests staged in the Romanian capital last night. For example, a Deutsche Welle story said: Biggest anti-corruption protests held in Romania since fall of communist rule, Euronews reported: Protesters in Romania hold huge demonstration over government ‘anti-corruption U-turn’, France24 journalists wrote “Hundreds of thousands of people hit the streets across Romania on Wednesday to protest the government's decriminalising of a string of corruption offences, the largest demonstrations since communism fell in 1989" (story here), and Reuters reported: “More than 250,000 Romanians demonstrated on Wednesday against a government decree decriminalizing some graft offences, seen as the biggest retreat on reforms since the country joined the European Union in 2007" (story here).

Other publications that informed their readers about the protests in Romania are The Guardian - here, Aljazeera - here, and Bloomberg, which explains in the article why are the protesters in the street, how big is Romania’s corruption problem, and how is this affecting markets (story here).

The Wall Street Journal also reported that the “demonstrations in the capital are some of the largest since the Cold War" (story here), while Russia Today writes about the clashes that erupted last night in Bucharest during the enourmous rally - here. Meanwhile, CNN reports: Romanians protest new corruption law.

On February 1, the international press also reported on the Romanian Government’s new justice bills. "Corruption now comes in two forms in Romania. There is the big kind that can still land an official in jail. Then there's the acceptable type that will bring nothing more than a knowing shrug," reported Washington Post (story here), while Daily Mail wrote: "Romania's new left-wing government legalizes corruption one month after being voted into office" (story here).

Other publications from around the world that covered the political events in Romania are The New York Times (here), Deutsche Welle (here), Euronews (here), and USA Today (story here).

Moreover, The New York Times also invites Romanian readers to say if and how they experienced corruption in Romania.

Probably the most acid report on the recent-days events in Romania was made by the Swiss public radio and television (SRF), which titles: "Will Romania turn into Europe's Banana Republic?" The article says that the Government is now working on making sure that "corruption has a great future in Romania".

The report also mentions an interview SRF had with PSD leader Liviu Dragnea before the parliamentary elections in Romania. When asked about the anticorruption fight in Romania, Dragnea's recorded answer was: "I want to talk about Romania's future, not on such bullshit, sorry, corruption (...)"

EC: We are following the latest developments in Romania with great concern

US, France, Germany express “deep concern” at Romanian Govt.’s actions

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com