Romania’s former ruling party leader banned from entering the US for corruption

The former president of Romania’s Social Democratic Party (PSD) and Chamber of Deputies speaker Liviu Dragnea has been banned from entering the United States, after a decision of the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The interdiction also applies to Dragnea’s two children Valentin Stefan Dragnea and Maria Alexandra Dragnea.

“Secretary Michael R. Pompeo is publicly designating the former Speaker of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, Liviu Nicolae Dragnea, due to his involvement in significant corruption. This designation is made under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2019 (Div. F, P.L. 116-6). Section 7031(c) provides that, in cases where the Secretary of State has credible information that officials of foreign governments have been involved in significant corruption, those individuals and their immediate family members are ineligible for entry into the United States,” reads a press release of the US Department of State.

“Today’s action sends a strong signal that the United States is committed to fighting corruption and supporting the rule of law in Romania,” the Department of State added.

Liviu Dragnea, who became the most influential politician in Romania after his party won the parliamentary elections in December 2016, was sent to jail at the end of May this year, for abuse of office. He has to serve three years and six months in prison.

During his two and a half years in power, Dragnea tried everything to weaken the anticorruption laws and dodge conviction.

He was also the first Romanian politician who shook President Donald Trump's hand on the day of his inauguration.

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