Brussels, 21/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - José Manuel Barroso has welcomed the referendum in Romania, in which the vast majority of Romanian citizens on Saturday took position against the dismissal of the President Traian Basescu (as called for by the Romanian parliament). The President of the European Commission immediately launched an appeal to the Romanian authorities immediately to resume reforms, particularly to modernise the legal system and fight against corruption. “I hope that this result (of the referendum) will contribute to help Romania (…) to move forward with the reforms needed, especially in the areas of judicial reform and the fight against corruption. To achieve these reforms, Romania needs a stable political and legal framework with all the political actors working together”, said Mr Barroso in a press release published on Sunday. For his part, Mr Basescu has announced that he intends to continue his anti-corruption campaign. In June, the Commission is to present the Council with a report on the progress made by Romania and Bulgaria in these fields, in line with the special surveillance mechanism brought in when the two countries joined the European Union in January of this year. (hb)