Justice Minister Tudor Chiuariu denied on Friday the accusations made by a central newspaper, according to which he asked the European Commission to erase paragraphs containing positive appreciation of the National Anti-Corruption Prosecution Office (DNA).

"The document published in the media represents the response of the ministerial experts", says Chiuariu.

"I must mention that the observations in the document do not refer to the report conclusions, but to some statement or phrases that, in our opinion, were not fairly reflecting the reality. Some of the observations were assumed by the Commission's experts.

I had no knowledge about the content of the document before it was sent to the European Commission. It contains fair information and public positions expressed during my mandate", said Chiuariu.

In response, Laura Stefan, a former expert employed by the Ministry, declared for HotNews that " It is not possible for the Minister to be unaware of a communication between the ministry and the European Commission. In any case, the Justice Minister bears the responsibility for any document leaving the ministry and, in case he really doesn't know about it, it's poor management.

It is a childish attempt to escape responsibility. Let's not be naive and believe that comments that left the Justice Ministry referring to the most important document of the year were unknown to the Minister".

Update

Contacted by HotNews.ro, Mark Gray, spokesman in the European Union, mentioned that a letter was received from Romania, but "none of our considerations regarding the activity of the National Anti-Corruption Prosecution Office was changed as a result of this letter".

Civil organization "The Initiative for a Clean Justice" also expressed its indignation in an official press release, due to the "unprecedented attempt of Justice Minister Tudor Chiuariu to modify the report of the European Commission on Romania's post-accession evolution, demanding the elimination of positive conclusions in the Justice chapter"