BUCHAREST, June 2 (Reuters) - Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors said on Tuesday they had opened a criminal investigation against General Gheorghita Vlad, the Army's Chief of Staff, on suspicion that he abused his power to unlawfully secure state-funded college seats.
Vlad, the highest-ranking active military officer in Romania, declined comment on Tuesday. The defence ministry said it was cooperating but could not comment without interfering with the investigation.
The prosecutors said in a statement that Vlad was under investigation for aiding and abetting a second in command to demand that an additional 20 state-funded college seats be given to the defence ministry in 2025, overstepping their job remit.
The ministry has a few state-funded places allotted each year at several educational institutions such as the College of Physical Education in Bucharest.
Transparency International has repeatedly ranked Romania as one of the European Union's most corrupt states.
The European Union kept Romania's justice system under special monitoring after it joined the bloc in 2007 but the pace of anti-graft investigations slowed after this was lifted in 2023. The judiciary has delivered some high-level acquittals that have raised concerns that the Romanian authorities' fight against corruption has lost momentum.
(Reporting by Luiza IlieEditing by Gareth Jones)
