French newspaper Le Monde analyzes in its Tuesday edition the efforts made by Romanian politicians to stop the offensive against corruption, launched by authorities in Bucharest under EU pressure.

The newspaper writes that only weeks after the country’s accession to the EU, new legislative measures to set a body that would keep the wealth of elected officials in check became unbearable for many politicians. And the first victim of this change of attitude is Justice minister Monica Macovei, according to the french paper.

The newspaper considers that it was thanks to Macovei’s reform that Romania got rid of a safeguard clause that might have postponed the country’s EU accession until 2008. Boosting the power of prosecutors and judges allowed the fight against chronic corruption linking business and political circles to start for good, Le Monde says.

Its report comes less than a week after Macovei was sanctioned with a simple motion against her that was passed by the Romanian MPs from both the opposition and the governing coalition.