The vote means that Dragnea will have to serve his sentence.
Dragnea has allegedly previously taken kickbacks in deals done with the now-deceased millionaire Costel Comana, been charged with embezzlement, pushed for weaker anti-corruption stances, and pressured OCCRP partner, Project RISE, with government agencies when it exposed his corruption. He was also accused of vote-rigging.
Dragnea’s sentencing comes after significant pressure from the EU, which threatened to revoke many of Romania’s privileges as an EU state and bar it from the Schengen visa-free travel zone.
The Social Democratic party suffered another defeat on Sunday, losing out to the pro-EU National Liberal Party in the European parliament election.
