Prime Minister Bolojan Facing His First Test in the Fight Against Corruption

The corruption scandal involving Deputy Prime Minister Dragoş Anastasiu (foto) should surprise no one. Yesterdayţs and todayţs Romania breathes corruption through every pore, especially where high-level decisions are made and public money flows. The episode with the ANAF inspector, whom Anastasiu—back when he was just a company owner—bribed to save his business from bankruptcy, once again shows what we already know: tax evasion in Romania isnţt an amateur sport, but a discipline practiced with the full participation of Finance Ministry insiders.
Even though Dragoş Anastasiu took the rare step of turning himself in to the National Anticorruption Directorate and becoming a witness in the case, the stain remains. His career as a businessman and now as a politician is irreversibly tainted, no matter how many legal or moral arguments he brings forward.
But the real problem isnţt just Anastasiuţs past—itţs his present. How did this man become Deputy Prime Minister without Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan being informed of his actions? Did the authorities sleep on the case, or did someone have a vested interest in clearing his path to power? The fact that such a figure landed in such a key position raises serious questions about the mechanisms that are supposed to screen those who govern the country.
Now the entire nation is watching Bolojan. Will he sign Anastasiuţs dismissal, sending a clear message that the fight against corruption is more than empty rhetoric? Or will he keep him, invoking state reasons we are unlikely to learn anytime soon?
Civil society, several political voices, and even President Nicuşor Dan, speaking from Vienna, have publicly demanded Anastasiuţs resignation. PSD has seized the opportunity to attack Bolojan, yet, surprisingly, has stopped short of firmly demanding the deputy prime ministerţs removal. Why the sudden softness? The answer lies in the mirror: PSDţs own Deputy Prime Minister, Marian Neacşu, was also a witness in a corruption case within his party. Letţs not forget the 2019 scandal, when PSD treasurer Mircea Drăghici embezzled €380,000 in party funds, with Neacşu, then party secretary-general, appearing in the case file.
And so, we see one hand washing the other: PSD shielding PNL and together guarding the corruption within their ranks. Prime Minister Bolojan now faces the most crucial test of his mandate. If he is truly committed to integrity, he has the chance to fire both deputy prime ministers—Anastasiu and Neacşu—and show that his government is not a coalition of complicities. Whether Bolojan will pass this test or join the long line of leaders who vowed to uproot corruption but ended up watering it remains to be seen.