Timisoara mayor Dominic Fritz said on Friday that, following President Nicusor Dan's signing the ANI bill into law, his term will end in 30 days, and that his team of deputy mayors will take over the interim leadership of City Hall at the end of September.

'President Nicusor Dan has promulgated the ANI law, including the anti-Timisoara amendment introduced by PSD and AUR. This means that in 30 days my term as mayor of Timisoara will end. Fifty-two thousand votes of Timisoara's citizens, annulled, spat on. I have already received two sanctions upheld in court for a signature on a copy of a perfectly legal document made entirely by the former mayor, on the second day of my first term, six years ago. Now I will receive a third sanction, newly invented - termination of mandate - for something that the same new law no longer considers an offense,' Fritz wrote on Facebook.

He said the case shows 'a gross abuse, political revenge and a violation of the Constitution,' adding: 'The rule of law in Romania no longer exists.'

'No contortion by the PSD majority at the Constitutional Court can hide the truth: the rule of law in Romania no longer exists. PSD is a party that no longer has any chance of winning the democratic fight, so it uses the tools of dictators to keep power. Together with their allies in the judiciary and institutions like ANI, all aligned behind one objective: to plunder Romania's resources without restraint. To take the money from your taxes and stuff it into their shoeboxes,' Fritz said.

He accused PSD of trying to destroy public trust in the democratic alternative offered by USR and himself. 'They don't need to destroy one man - this is not about me. They need to destroy your belief that things can be different. USR is their target because USR delivered. Why did they vote motion after motion against USR ministers? Why mobilise the entire mafia machinery of the system to get rid of the mayor of Timisoara? Because the greatest danger for them is for citizens to see that yes, a politician can change things for the better, can deliver results, just as my team and I have transformed Timisoara.'

Fritz said USR's success is 'PSD's nightmare,' and that the party wants to eliminate progressives 'at any cost' as it prepares for governing.

'Hard times await us. But the harder the times, the greater our determination must be. Believe me: I am more determined than ever to continue the fight against the octopus that steals our money and our hope. The vote given by Timisoara's citizens in 2024, for a four-year term, still obliges me. My team of deputy mayors will take over the interim leadership of City Hall at the end of September. I remain a Timisoara resident. I remain USR Chair and I will fight alongside the thousands and thousands of Romanians who do not accept that the country be handed over to PSD. They will not get rid of me, nor of you. For that, I thank you. They have perverted power on their side. We have justice on ours. And together, we move forward. And we will win,' Fritz said. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Otilia Halunga; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)