Romanian minister resigns after anti-graft protests

Romania's business and trade minister resigned on Thursday over a government decree that could effectively amnesty dozens of officials accused of corruption, a move that has triggered countrywide protests.

Florin Jianu, minister of business, trade and entrepreneurship, announced his resignation on Thursday, calling it an "ethical" decision.

"Not for my professional honesty, my conscience is clean on that front, but for my child," he wrote on Facebook.

"How am I going to look him in the eye and what am I going to tell him over the years? Am I going to tell him his father was a coward and supported actions he does not believe in, or that he chose to walk away from a story that isn't his?"

The decree, which decriminalises a number of graft offences, was hastily adopted by the cabinet late on Tuesday evening, barely a month since the Social Democrat-led government of Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu took power.

More than 250,000 Romanians came out in protest late on Wednesday, in the biggest anti-corruption demonstration since the fall of communism in Romania in 1989.

The government has said it is designed to ease prison overcrowding and bring the criminal code into line with recent constitutional court rulings. But Romania's top judicial watchdog has filed a constitutional court challenge to the decree, which will take effect in 10 days unless blocked by a court ruling.

Grindeanu showed no sign of giving ground, sending a letter on Wednesday to European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker detailing the reasons why his cabinet chose to pass the decree and a draft bill granting prison pardons for several offences.

Juncker said he was watching developments with "great concern", warning that the fight against corruption in Romania "needs to be advanced, not undone."

Six western states including Germany and the United States have also criticised the government.