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Traian Băsescu
Traian Băsescu (Romanian pronunciation: [traˈjan bəˈsesku]; born 4 November 1951) is a Romanian politician who served as the president of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian minister of transport on multiple occasions between 1991 and 2000, and as Mayor of Bucharest from 2000 to 2004. Additionally, he was elected as leader of the Democratic Party (PD) in 2001.
During his term as leader of the PD, the party formed the Justice and Truth Alliance (DA) with the National Liberal Party (PNL). Following Theodor Stolojan's withdrawal from the presidential elections in 2004, Băsescu entered the presidential race on behalf of the alliance. After being elected president, he suspended his PD membership; Romanian law does not permit the incumbent president to be a member of a political party. He was subsequently re-elected in 2009.
During his presidency, Romania became a member state of the European Union, on January 1, 2007, after the admission process formarly ended in 2004, during the presidency of his predecessor, Ion Iliescu. He is the only president of Romania to have been suspended by the parliament twice, in 2007 and 2012. A former member of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR), he has promoted social conservative, neoliberal and populist policies during his administration.
After ending his presidential term, in 2015, Băsescu joined the People's Movement Party (PMP), of which he became president in 2016, subsequently resigning in 2018. He then served as Member of the European Parliament for Romania between 2019 and 2024.
Traian Băsescu was born in Basarabi (renamed Murfatlar in 2007), near the port city of Constanța, the largest Romanian port on the coast of the Black Sea. Băsescu's father, Dumitru (1924–2002), was a retired army officer, whilst his mother, Elena (1929–2010) was an ordinary peasant or homemaker who died of breast cancer. His brother, Mircea (born 1953) was charged with influence peddling (in exchange for €250,000, he promised freedom to his godson Florin Anghel, an underworld member); Mircea was sentenced to four years in prison only after his brother's mandate ended. Băsescu and his wife Maria have two daughters: Ioana (born 1977), a notary, and Elena (born 1980), a Romanian former MEP.
Băsescu graduated from the Naval Institute of Constanța in 1976 and became a merchant marine deck officer at Navrom, the Romanian state-owned shipping company. Between 1981 and 1987, he served as captain on Romanian commercial ships. Throughout his career, questions have been raised about Băsescu's links to the Securitate, the security services of the communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu. However, Băsescu has claimed that his links with the former Securitate were minimal, though some contact was obligatory at the time for somebody working abroad in a senior position. In 1984, he was promoted to Captain of the oil tanker Biruința, the largest ship of the then Romanian commercial fleet. In 1989, Băsescu moved to Belgium to head the Navrom Agency in Antwerp.
The most controversial episode of his professional career began on 10 September 1981 in the French port Rouen, when a fire started around the Romanian tanker Argeș, then under the command of Traian Băsescu, affecting a large portion of the Seine River. The fire destroyed two tugs and six barges, and major disaster was avoided when 70 French firemen from Rouen, Grand-Couronne, Grand-Quevilly, Canteleu, and Moulineaux prevented the fire from reaching the nearby Shell refinery. According to an interview given by Băsescu to the Romanian TV channel Prima TV on 23 June 1998 (and quoted by Magazin Nautic, the official publication of the Romanian Nautical Club), Băsescu admitted to having made alterations to the ship's installation before the French investigators were allowed to come on board, a thing that — in Băsescu's own words — made it impossible for the investigators to link the cause of the disaster to the Romanian ship.
Băsescu was a member of the Communist Party before 1989. After the downfall of Communism, he claimed that he joined the PCR to promote his career in the merchant marines.[citation needed] In a letter published in Romanian newspapers, former president Emil Constantinescu alleged that Băsescu was in the second tier of the Communist Party leadership during the regime of former communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu, but had managed to portray himself as anti-communist. During an interview, Băsescu admitted that before 1989 he smuggled jeans and other goods. A former communist official, a director of a firm that was receiving the goods transported by Băsescu by ship, said on Antena 3 TV that without payment of a bribe, Băsescu refused to bring the goods in the country.
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Traian Băsescu
Traian Băsescu (Romanian pronunciation: [traˈjan bəˈsesku]; born 4 November 1951) is a Romanian politician who served as the president of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian minister of transport on multiple occasions between 1991 and 2000, and as Mayor of Bucharest from 2000 to 2004. Additionally, he was elected as leader of the Democratic Party (PD) in 2001.
During his term as leader of the PD, the party formed the Justice and Truth Alliance (DA) with the National Liberal Party (PNL). Following Theodor Stolojan's withdrawal from the presidential elections in 2004, Băsescu entered the presidential race on behalf of the alliance. After being elected president, he suspended his PD membership; Romanian law does not permit the incumbent president to be a member of a political party. He was subsequently re-elected in 2009.
During his presidency, Romania became a member state of the European Union, on January 1, 2007, after the admission process formarly ended in 2004, during the presidency of his predecessor, Ion Iliescu. He is the only president of Romania to have been suspended by the parliament twice, in 2007 and 2012. A former member of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR), he has promoted social conservative, neoliberal and populist policies during his administration.
After ending his presidential term, in 2015, Băsescu joined the People's Movement Party (PMP), of which he became president in 2016, subsequently resigning in 2018. He then served as Member of the European Parliament for Romania between 2019 and 2024.
Traian Băsescu was born in Basarabi (renamed Murfatlar in 2007), near the port city of Constanța, the largest Romanian port on the coast of the Black Sea. Băsescu's father, Dumitru (1924–2002), was a retired army officer, whilst his mother, Elena (1929–2010) was an ordinary peasant or homemaker who died of breast cancer. His brother, Mircea (born 1953) was charged with influence peddling (in exchange for €250,000, he promised freedom to his godson Florin Anghel, an underworld member); Mircea was sentenced to four years in prison only after his brother's mandate ended. Băsescu and his wife Maria have two daughters: Ioana (born 1977), a notary, and Elena (born 1980), a Romanian former MEP.
Băsescu graduated from the Naval Institute of Constanța in 1976 and became a merchant marine deck officer at Navrom, the Romanian state-owned shipping company. Between 1981 and 1987, he served as captain on Romanian commercial ships. Throughout his career, questions have been raised about Băsescu's links to the Securitate, the security services of the communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu. However, Băsescu has claimed that his links with the former Securitate were minimal, though some contact was obligatory at the time for somebody working abroad in a senior position. In 1984, he was promoted to Captain of the oil tanker Biruința, the largest ship of the then Romanian commercial fleet. In 1989, Băsescu moved to Belgium to head the Navrom Agency in Antwerp.
The most controversial episode of his professional career began on 10 September 1981 in the French port Rouen, when a fire started around the Romanian tanker Argeș, then under the command of Traian Băsescu, affecting a large portion of the Seine River. The fire destroyed two tugs and six barges, and major disaster was avoided when 70 French firemen from Rouen, Grand-Couronne, Grand-Quevilly, Canteleu, and Moulineaux prevented the fire from reaching the nearby Shell refinery. According to an interview given by Băsescu to the Romanian TV channel Prima TV on 23 June 1998 (and quoted by Magazin Nautic, the official publication of the Romanian Nautical Club), Băsescu admitted to having made alterations to the ship's installation before the French investigators were allowed to come on board, a thing that — in Băsescu's own words — made it impossible for the investigators to link the cause of the disaster to the Romanian ship.
Băsescu was a member of the Communist Party before 1989. After the downfall of Communism, he claimed that he joined the PCR to promote his career in the merchant marines.[citation needed] In a letter published in Romanian newspapers, former president Emil Constantinescu alleged that Băsescu was in the second tier of the Communist Party leadership during the regime of former communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu, but had managed to portray himself as anti-communist. During an interview, Băsescu admitted that before 1989 he smuggled jeans and other goods. A former communist official, a director of a firm that was receiving the goods transported by Băsescu by ship, said on Antena 3 TV that without payment of a bribe, Băsescu refused to bring the goods in the country.