Mayors with legal issues
The Mayor of Bucharest has been placed under judicial control, while the Mayor of Timișoara definitively lost his lawsuit against the National Integrity Agency (ANI) at the High Court of Cassation and Justice.
Corina Cristea, 19.06.2026, 14:00
A series of political upheavals have occurred in Romania, where parties have been searching for a new government formula for over a month, following the fall of the Bolojan administration via a motion of no confidence. The mayor of Bucharest and first vice president of the National Liberal Party (PNL), Ciprian Ciucu, considered the right-hand man of Liberal leader Ilie Bolojan, was placed under judicial control on Thursday by anti-corruption prosecutors on charges of electoral bribery. He was questioned by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) for over three hours, and upon leaving, he stated that he is innocent and that he will not resign from his position as mayor of Bucharest. The DNA’s allegations pertain to events that occurred while Ciprian Ciucu was mayor of a district of Bucharest; the case was separated from another investigation into a corruption case at the National Office for Gambling. According to the DNA, during the 2025 election campaign, Ciprian Ciucu allegedly received undue benefits from two businessmen in the form of advertising and election consulting services, in exchange for issuing a permit and an urban planning certificate for a real estate project.
A close associate of Ilie Bolojan, Ciprian Ciucu is among the Liberals who oppose returning to government alongside the Social Democrats, and his legal problems emerged just a few days before a decisive party congress, at which the PNL leadership would like to expel the Prime Minister-designate Adrian Veştea and his supporters from the party, as they favor an alliance with the PSD. Also at this convention, as revealed by Liberal MEP Gheorghe Falcă, an amendment to the party’s statute was to be made, and Ciprian Ciucu was to become the sole first vice president of this political party.
Thursday’s events, a difficult day for the right-wing political movement, came to a close also in the courts, where USR President and Timişoara Mayor Dominic Fritz definitively lost his lawsuit against the National Integrity Agency at the High Court of Cassation and Justice. The Supreme Court rejected the administrative appeal filed by the USR leader, upholding the ANI report, which found a conflict of interest in 2020 when, after becoming mayor, Dominic Fritz approved a proposal to amend a zoning plan, which he submitted to the City Council for approval. The technical documentation had been prepared by a company owned by a USR local council member, who had lent candidate Dominic Fritz money during the election campaign. This ruling directly results in a ban on holding any elected public office for three years after the expiration of his current term as mayor.
Immediately after the verdict was announced, Dominic Fritz described the decision as a disguised political execution and announced that he would appeal the Supreme Court’s ruling to the European Court of Human Rights. Representatives of the USR, a party that has also announced it will not vote for Adrian Veștea’s cabinet, believe that ‘the sanction comes in a context that raises questions about its impartiality, following years in which the USR has advocated for the elimination of special pensions, including those for judges, and following political stances that have affected the interests of the traditional political system.’(LS)
