In 2015, Romania got serious about its corruption problem. DNA, its aggressive anticorruption body, indicted 1,250 public officials, including the sitting prime minister. Five other ministers, twenty-one members of parliament, and Bucharest mayor Sorin Oprescu were indicted. The agency ordered the seizure of nearly half a billion euros.
Romania is now perceived as less corrupt. In 2002 when the DNA was put into place, Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index ranked the country as the 77th most corrupt country in the world, tying with Pakistan and the Philippians. In 2015, Romania had improved to 58th place.
