Romania’s newly appointed interior minister resigns after shocking murder of teenage girl

Interior minister Nicolae Moga resigned on Tuesday, July 30, less than a week after taking over the job. This makes Moga the interior minister with the shortest mandate in the history of Romania’s Interior Ministry, according to local Mediafax.

His resignation comes amid a scandal sparked by the slow intervention of the police and other law enforcement authorities in the case targeting the kidnapping and murder of a young girl in the town of Caracal last week.

Nicolae Moga was appointed minister of interior on July 24 after the former minister Carmen Dan resigned. In his first statements as minister, Moga said that he did not want this position but, if “that’s how it was meant to be,” he will try to make things work.

However, not long after Moga’s appointment, the news broke out that Alexandra Macesanu, 15, was reported missing and was most likely kidnapped and killed. In the early hours of Friday last week, the police searched the house of a car mechanic from Caracal and found possible human remains and jewelery in a barrel. They arrested the man, who later confessed to murdering Alexandra, and also admitted to killing another girl who was reported missing in mid-April.

The entire case sparked public outrage, especially as information emerged that the police failed to locate the 15-year-old girl in time although she managed to call the emergency number 112 on Thursday morning and alert the authorities. Accusations were also lunched against the Special Telecommunications Service (STS), which reportedly failed to provide a more accurate location of the girl. The STS director resigned on Monday, July 29, and eight policemen who intervened in this case are currently under investigation.

Explaining his resignation, Nicolae Moga said: “I took this decision to save some of the heavily affected prestige of this institution following the deficient activity of some of its employees who have been dismissed or are to be sanctioned. […] In the six days in which I led the Ministry of Internal Affairs, I ordered all the possible controls to identify the culprits for the tragedy in Caracal. All these investigations will continue.”

Nicolae Moga was expected to present the ministry’s report on how the police intervened in the Caracal murder case and how they handled Alexandra's calls to 112.