New Romanian police department to fight corruption in Interior Ministry

Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu on Monday launched a new police department to fight corruption among Interior Ministry employees. The new department, which will be led by a prosecutor, was designed in collaboration with British and Spanish experts, Tariceanu said during an opening ceremony.

It is part of a government campaign to crack down on corruption. The European Union has warned Romania that it's bid to join the bloc could be postponed by a year if it fails to reduce corruption.

"When a public service or police employee comes to work he must have only one objective, to serve the citizen ... his duty is to serve the public interest and not that of his friends," Tariceanu said.

Tariceanu later said he was confident that his Cabinet's measures to introduce more transparency in public contracts and make the judiciary more efficient would succeed in reducing corruption, according to the AP.

He said there was already progress in stopping high-level corruption because none of his Cabinet ministers have been entangled in corruption scandals.

T.E.