Romania's politicians no longer inviolable

The fact that the supreme court in Romanian has condemned former prime minister Adrian Năstase to two years in prison for illegal party financing is proof that not even high-ranking politicians are above the law any more, the news portal Hotnews writes: "Politicians don't pay for their ill deeds because they've created a system that guarantees them immunity, inviolability and immortality no matter what they get up to. Or at least that's the way it's been for ages now. ... But EU membership has anchored our country in the Western democratic value system, in which the judiciary plays a key role. ... Năstase's conviction has now destroyed the last mental obstacles. The sentence liberates the judicial system from the complex problem of not being able to pass judgement on high-level politicians. To prevent us from backtracking, Romania must now enter a phase of institutional consolidation. Only in this way can we maintain and make use of this hard-fought advantage."

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