REPORT OF THE US STATE DEPARTMENT: "Sorin Oprescu has refused to follow the law in the Cathedral Plaza scandal"

• The Roman-Catholic Church has sent 20 letters to former president Traian Băsescu, requesting his support to get the building pulled down, according to the report

The US State Department mentions in a report the refusal of the Mayoralty of Bucharest to apply the ruling concerning the pulling down of the Cathedral Plaza tower, built next to the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Bucharest, according to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest (ARCB).

The representatives of the ARCB quote from the report concerning the year 2014: "The mayor of Bucharest (ed. note: Sorin Oprescu, currently under arrest for taking kickbacks and currently suspended) has continued to refuse the enforcement of a final court ruling in 2013 to pull down an office building erected illegally near the Roman-Catholic Cathedral.

According to the ruling, the tower was considered a risk to the physical integrity of the cathedral. In June, the Roman-Catholic Church filed complaints with the European Court of Human Rights and the National Anti-Corruption Department, accusing the public sector employees subordinated to the mayor of corruption and obstruction of justice. In July, the Roman Catholic Church sent the 20th letter addressed to president Băsescu (ed. note: in office at the time), requesting the support for the demolition of the building".

The officials of the ARCB stipulate that the State Department has followed "the irregularities of the Cathedral Plaza project starting with the report in 2006, and the representatives of the US embassy in Bucharest have very clearly stated, about this issue: «Compliance with the law and the rulings of the court represents the foundation of democracy»".

The scandal concerning the 19 floor tower built near the St. Joseph Cathedral of Bucharest, between the representatives of the Archdiocese and Millennium Building Development, the owner of the building, has been going on for years.

The Cathedral Plaza lawsuit was filed in 2006, when the actual construction of the building began, with the District Court of Bucharest, by the Roman-Catholic Archdiocese, as its representatives claimed that the neighboring tower was a threat to the St. Joseph Cathedral. The case had its venue changed to Constanţa, Craiova, Piteşti, the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR), Târgovişte, Ploieşti, reaching Suceava, Alba Iulia and Iaşi. Over that time, the Cathedral Plaza case has been tried several times in the European Court of Human Rights.

Over the last few years, the disagreements between the two parties have gotten deeper and deeper.

While the Roman-Catholic Archdiocese (ARCB) recently announced that the ruling which had suspended the enforcement of the ruling to pull down Cathedral Plaza has been annulled by the Court of Appeal of Ploieşti, Millennium Building Development claims that Archbishop Ioan Robu twists the meaning of court rulings and manipulates the public opinion.

While the ARCB says that the demolition of Cathedral Plaza should be completed, Millennium thinks that the building can re-enter legality.

If the Archdiocese claims that the Mayoralty has sided with Millenium, the owner of Cathedral Plaza claims precisely the opposite.

Businessman Ioannis Papalekas has acquired Millennium, from Israeli Eyal Ofer, in 2013.

The works for the construction of the controversial building have cost 60 million Euros.

• Over time, the Vatican has expressed concern over the situation of the St. Joseph Cathedral

The Vatican has often expressed concern over the approach of the Romanian authorities have treated the row around Cathedral Plaza.

There has even been information that in 2006, the president of the European Commission at the time, Jose Manuel Barroso, had a meeting with the Pope, during which he discussed that issue.

In 2007, baroness Emma Nicholson made a spontaneous visit to the St. Joseph Cathedral, as she personally wanted to see how the work on Cathedral Plaza was coming along.

Daniel Fenechiu, the lawyer of the Roman - Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest, gave us the following statement at the time: "It was a surprise for all of us at the time to see her here. Emma Nicholson spent more than an hour inside the Cathedral and in the yard, took several pictures and couldn't believe that the situation was as dire as the representatives of the Archdiocese had presented it in the European Parliament. Baroness Nicholson has supported the initiative of the Archdiocese in Brussels in all of the three visits that the representatives of the Roman-Catholic Church made to the European Parliament".

The row of the building of the 19-floor office building came to the attention of the European Parliament, who has also issued a statement by which he was asking the European Commission to intercede with the Romanian Government for the resolution of the situation.

In 2010, Pope Benedict the 16th expressed concern before the bishops of Bucharest, for the situation of the St. Joseph Cathedral, due to the construction of the nearby building.