Nine Romanian nongovernmental organisations issued a harsh attack on Thursday on the position of Hungarian Democrat (UDMR) Senator Gyorgy Frunda, who had proposed a set of amendments on the law for the functioning of the National Agency for Integrity (ANI), a key body supervising the wealth of public officials and an instrument in Romania's fight against corruption. The amendments stripped ANI of much of its powers.

The NGOs call on the Hungarian community in Romania to no longer elect to Parliament "characters such as Mr Frunda".

The NGOs say they have regretfully found that senior members of the Hungarian Democrats (UDMR) group led by Senator Gyorgy Frunda proved to be a "spearhead in the destruction of any strategies and means to fight corruption in Romania". They say it happened again this week when the ANI law was discussed in the Senate: "Senator Frunda was the one who proposed the most downgrading amendments" which left the Agency without any powers, thus "eliminating any practical chance of control on the wealth of dignitaries".

The protest is signed by the Romanian Academic Society, Freedom House Romania, the Institute for Public Policies, the Romanian Center for European Policies, Active Watch - Media Monitoring Agency, the Center for Independent Journalism, the Timisoara Society and the Advocacy Academy. Nine Romanian nongovernmental organisations issued a harsh attack on Thursday on the position of Hungarian Democrat (UDMR) Senator Gyorgy Frunda, who had proposed a set of amendments on the law for the functioning of the National Agency for Integrity (ANI), a key body supervising the wealth of public officials and an instrument in Romania's fight against corruption. The amendments stripped ANI of much of its powers.

The NGOs call on the Hungarian community in Romania to no longer elect to Parliament "characters s