(ANSA) - BELGRADE, 28 GIU - Twelve countries have urged Romania not to adopt laws that could harm the fight against crime and corruption. In a statement posted on the website of the US embassy in Bucharest today, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States asked Romania "to avoid changes that would weaken the rule of law or Romania's ability to fight crime or corruption" in amending the criminal and criminal procedure codes.

"Romania has shown considerable progress in combatting corruption and building effective rule of law" and "we encourage Romanians to continue on this path," the statement on the US embassy website reads.

The 12 countries that signed the appeal noted that "we are following closely the changes to the criminal codes and remain concerned that several are likely to impede international law enforcement cooperation and negatively impact the fight against violent crime, transnational organized crime, financial crimes, and drug and human trafficking." (ANSA).