A government council has fined Romania's president for referring to politicians indicted or convicted on corruption charges as "offenders."

The National Council to Fight Discrimination voted 5-4 on Tuesday to fine President Klaus Iohannis 2,000 lei ($510.) Iohannis used the word in February to describe politicians he said were "desperately trying" to discredit the anti-corruption agency that has prosecuted a number of senior officials.

Iohannis says the decision was politically motivated and he will appeal. The president a critic of Romania's left-wing government.

Later Tuesday, he gave a speech marking Europe Day in which he criticized politicians "inconvenienced by European standards of authentic democracy."

Iohannis said that without the rule of law, "there is no prosperity ... for most citizens, just privileges for a tight circle of people in power."