Romania's Supreme Court has sentenced former prime minister Adrian Nastase to two years in jail for corruption.

Nastase was charged with using $2 million in state funds to finance his failed 2004 election campaign.

The former prime minister has denied any wrongdoing, saying the case was politically motivated. He says he will appeal the decision.

Nastase served as prime minister from 2000 to 2004 and remains a senior politician with the opposition Social Democracy Party. Last month, he was cleared in a separate corruption case and is facing charges in a third.

He is Romania's first former prime minister to be sentenced to prison since the fall of communism in the country in 1989.

The European Union has called on Romania to crack down on corruption. Romania joined the EU in 2007.