Prime Minister Victor Ponta met Tuesday with EU ambassadors accredited in Bucharest, as well as with the US and Canadian ambassadors, the meetings were attended by the Chamber of Deputies speaker, Valeriu Zgonea, and the Senate’s chairman, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, official sources said quoted by Mediafax .
The meeting took place after lawmakers rejected a request of the National Anti-Corruption Department to start prosecution of Ponta.
Earlier, US Embassy had conveyed that parliamentary immunity should not be used to block judicial procedures and the law should apply equally to all.
The US Embassy also added before the plenary session in the Chamber of Deputies started, that "any allegations of violations of the law by government officials should be investigated fully and without interference".
The British Embassy has also conveyed that the British Government recognizes the importance of the fight against corruption in Romania and the need for the judiciary institutions to act impartially and in the spirit of full independence.
Netherlands Embassy in Bucharest showed, in turn, that the Netherlands firmly believes that all people are equal before the law, saying that "recent developments in Parliament highlight broader issues related to attitudes towards justice and corruption in Romania".
Prime Minister Victor Ponta is prosecuted for forgery of documents under private signature, repeated complicity in tax evasion and money laundering in the Turceni – Rovinari case files, offenses allegedly committed in the period when he was a lawyer. DNA has also asked the Chamber of Deputies for the approval to prosecute the Prime Minister for conflict of interest.