The High Court of Cassation and Justice ruled on Thursday, June 18, that the mayor of Timișoara and president of reformist center-right Save Romania Union Party (USR), Dominic Fritz, is in a conflict of interest, upholding the initial ruling of the Timișoara Court of Appeal from February 10. The decision is final.
In a press release, the Court stated that Dominic Fritz “participated in the issuance of an administrative act through which, using the authority of his office, he granted benefits to his own creditor from whom he had received a loan to finance the electoral campaign for the local elections for the City Hall of Timișoara Municipality.”
“The factual situation in which Mr. Fritz found himself corresponds to the elements that legislation and jurisprudence identify as relevant in matters of conflict of interest: the existence of a direct financial relationship, participation in the issuance of the act, and the possibility that personal interest may affect the impartiality of the exercise of public office,” according to the press release.
The Supreme Court did not refer to the effects of the ruling. However, the Timișoara Court of Appeal noted in its ruling, now upheld by the Court, that a mayor in a state of incompatibility or conflict of interest loses his mandate.
Dominic Fritz reacted immediately after the ICCJ decision, saying he will appeal to the ECHR and that he will not lose his mandate, but only that he is banned from running until 2030.
The mayor’s defense
In July 2024, the National Integrity Agency declared Dominic Fritz to be in an administrative conflict of interest. The integrity inspectors argued that in 2020, after being elected mayor of Timișoara, Dominic Fritz approved a report modifying a Zonal Urban Plan (PUZ), which he submitted to the Local Council for approval. The technical documentation for the beneficiary of this PUZ was made by the company of a USR local councilor, who had loaned candidate Dominic Fritz RON 25,000 (EUR 5,000) during that electoral campaign.
In the lawsuit filed against ANI, mayor Dominic Fritz explained that in 2020, after taking over the mayoral mandate, he “took over on the fly the administrative procedures initiated by his predecessor, Nicolae Robu, to issue/adopt certain administrative acts considered appropriate for the local community.” Among these was also a PUZ project initiated by a company that employed an architect who had lent Fritz money during the electoral campaign. The money was later reimbursed by the Permanent Electoral Authority, the mayor explained in court.
Fritz said that the former mayor had already approved the project in question, and after taking over the mandate, he was recommended by public officials in the city hall to confirm and re-sign the approval given by the former mayor so that there would be no suspicions of legality regarding it, given that Nicolae Robu’s mandate had, in the meantime, ended.
Political implications
Dominic Fritz has been mayor of Timișoara since September 2020, his second term in office. He is also one of the strongest supporters of former prime minister and president of the National Liberal Party (PNL), Ilie Bolojan. The same day, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) announced that prosecutors formally opened criminal proceedings against Bucharest mayor Ciprian Ciucu, another close ally of Bolojan, and placed him under judicial supervision for 60 days on charges of bribery.
Also on Thursday, June 18, the Liberal supporters of PM-designate Adrian Veștea, an opponent of Bolojan, filed a lawsuit before the Ilfov Tribunal to suspend the PNL National Political Bureau’s decision to exclude members who would vote for Veștea’s cabinet in Parliament.
The lawsuit, filed by 16 Liberal MPs, was approved within two hours of its submission, a record in the Romanian legal system that normally takes years to process cases, even those that involve minors at risk.
Fritz underlined in a post on Facebook that the day was one “of coincidences.” The next day, he posted on Facebook that USR maintains its opposition to the Veștea government.
(Photo source: Inquam Photos|Virgil Simonescu)
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