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| The Adrian Severin Case |
| (2011-06-24) |
| Last updated: 2011-06-27 13:55 EET |
Accused of bribe taking and influence peddling, Romanian MEP Adrian Severin has seen his parliamentary immunity lifted. He remains however a member of the European Parliament, although his resignation has been repeatedly requested.
Quite predictably, the European Parliament Thursday voted to strip the Romanian MEP Adrian Severin of immunity. In political terms, this is the end of an embarrassing scandal, both for the Romanian official and the European Parliament, and for the image of Romania itself. But the Severin saga will continue in court.
The immunity waiver enables Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors to probe into the bribe taking and influence peddling accusations brought against the former Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs. Several months ago, undercover journalists with the London-based paper The Sunday Times, offered Severin 100,000 Euros in exchange for promoting amendments to a European directive.
The Romanian MEP accepted the offer of the self-styled business lobbyists, but once the transaction disclosed, he claimed the goal of the entire scandal was to bring his political career to an end. After the lifting of his parliamentary immunity, Severin told our correspondent in Strasbourg that he was the victim of a political and media, lynching ordered in Bucharest:
“It is a disgrace that in Romania people are sentenced before they have been investigated, and this causes suffering and misfortune not only to those directly targeted, but also to the country. All the influential positions that I held were lost by Romania. I think—and you will excuse my lack of modesty—that few people have done for Romania and the EU what I have.”
Adrian Severin has left the Socialist group in the European Parliament and the Social Democratic Party, in opposition in Romania, but in spite of the pressure put by former colleagues, he would not step down as MEP, a position which brings him a hefty income of several thousands of Euros a month. Here is the president of the Social Democratic Party, Victor Ponta:
“I specifically asked him to leave all political offices, including that of MEP. I see this as Mr. Severin's political responsibility; his legal responsibility will be clarified later. Obviously, I want and I will try to convince Mr. Severin that his resignation from the European Parliament would enable us to occupy that parliamentary seat, which was won by our party in the election in Romania. At the same time, I believe this would help Mr. Severin to benefit from an unbiased investigation and less media attacks. Such attacks are justified at present, considering the position he is holding.”
Two other MEPs, one from Slovenia and another one from Austria, involved in what the media called the “lobby for money” affair, have resigned from the European Parliament.
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