After twenty years of Romanian nationalist rule, Zoltán Soós regained the control of the front city, he even managed to double it with the votes of many Romanians, but now they want to topple him at all costs.

On Tuesday, the Maros county court placed Zoltán Soós, the mayor of Marosvásárhely, under 60-day official supervision, who is suspected by the anti-corruption prosecutor's office (DNA) of accepting bribes.

According to a statement from the prosecutor's office, between 2021 and 2024, the mayor accepted 1,009,764 lei (HUF 83.4 million) worth of works of art from a businessman in exchange for the town hall concluding public procurement contracts with the person's company and paying on time.

In a Facebook post, the mayor asserted his innocence and made it known that he was still free to continue his work as mayor.

"We believe in the innocence of Zoltán Soós and we assure the mayor of Marosvásárhely of our support"

- Attila Csibi, president of the Maros County organization of RMDSZ, commented on the court's decision on his social media page.

"Several Romanian politicians have now been picked up, PSD Prime Minister Marcel Ciolaciu with the Nordis case, PNL president Nicolae Ciuca in his book case, at this time there might have been a demand to have a quota-RMDSZ member as well"

Zsolt Pászkán, the external expert of the Hungarian Institute of Foreign Affairs, comments Mandiner's although Soós started as an independent, but with RMDSZ support. It says: it is not known whether there is any basis for the accusations, nothing can be ruled out at this stage; but it would not be unprecedented that it was merely a political order.

"The case of RMDSZ's Csaba Borboly has dragged on for eleven years... Attila Markó was dragged and convicted, only to be found innocent. Somehow, you always get the feeling that DNA compensates for the criticism by including a Hungarian in the investigation". As he puts it, he cannot abstract from the fact that all of this happened the day after the presidential election, which was postponed in an unprecedented manner, which is why the action against Soós seems to be more directed.

Seeing Romania's current deficits in the rule of law, if it were Hungary, Vera Jourová would demand the most serious intervention to restore the rule of law with tears in her eyes, she believes.

MTI / Mandarin

Cover image: Mayor Zoltán Soós gives a speech at the press conference held after the press tour of the Art Lyceum renovated with municipal funds in Marosvásárhely on May 11, 2024. MTI/Gábor Kiss

 

The Hungarian mayor of Marosvásárhely was detained by the Romanian anti-corruption prosecutor