By James Morrison
Published March 2, 2004
Romania grows up
Romanian Ambassador Sorin Ducaru looks at his country as a nation that has grown dramatically since the overthrow of communism in 1989.
Even the latest news on government corruption is a sign of maturity, he told editors and reporters at The Washington Times yesterday.
Mr. Ducaru said his government is not afraid to concede that it has a problem with official corruption, but what rarely gets reported are the government measures to clean up the mess.
"Is there a problem? Yes. But until last year we had no anticorruption laws," he said, explaining that the government is prosecuting officials accused of peddling influence, accepting bribes or fixing government contracts.
"We lost 50 years of history, first with the Nazis and then with the communists," he said. "The country has a new vitality."
Many of the officials now in charge were students more than 14 years ago when they helped overthrow dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
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