Băsescu ties PSD christening luxury to Kovesi at DNA

Luxury at a Timișoara christening

On Saturday, 31 October, PSD leaders attended the christening in Timișoara of the third son of Alfred Simonis, president of the Timiș County Council. Sorin Grindeanu, the PSD president, was godfather, and several social democrat ministers were present. Singer Al Bano, who is 83, performed at the party. Partners of PSD leaders wore fur, jewellery, shoes and bags that luxury fashion sites sell for thousands of euros, and the images drew heavy comment on social media. Former prime minister Marcel Ciolacu, now president of the Buzău County Council, came with his partner, Sorina Docuz, and the two were filmed together for the first time.

The fur coat and the explanations

Sorina Docuz, a businesswoman and former wife of the mayor Robert Negoiță, wore a grey dress with a fur coat that online commentators speculated was chinchilla and worth between 12,000 and 17,000 euros. Those price figures come from online speculation, and the articles do not confirm them. Ciolacu said he paid 500 euros for the coat at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul and sent photographs of the shop as proof. Grindeanu said he regretted the perception created among people who had strongly felt the austerity measures of the past year.

Băsescu's remarks on B1 TV

Traian Băsescu, the former president, spoke by telephone to B1 TV on Thursday evening, 5 November, and called the event indecent. He asked why television crews had been brought in, and said the child was not to blame while the adults who staged a festival of luxury were. He concluded with a call for Kovesi's return to the anticorruption directorate.

“It was considered indecent, and probably was indecent.”

Băsescu then said the event showed the country needs Kovesi at the DNA.

“This event shows us that we need Kovesi at the DNA.”

He added that he did not think Laura Codruța Kovesi would return to lead the National Anticorruption Directorate, which she headed from 2013 to 2018. He said he had made the comparison mainly as a connection, and that he knew what reactions it would provoke.

Kovesi's European post

Kovesi's term as head of the European Public Prosecutor's Office ran from 31 October 2019 to 31 October 2026. From 1 November, German prosecutor Andres Ritter takes over for a new seven-year term that cannot be renewed. The key dates of the christening and the handover are set out below.

Reactions from journalists and political figures

TV host Anca Alexandrescu posted on Facebook on Thursday, 5 November, addressing AUR leader George Simion. She asked why he had not reacted to the christening and why he did not publicly acknowledge his friendship with Marcel Ciolacu.

“Why, Mr Simion, do you not publicly acknowledge your friendship with Mr Ciolacu? Just as I did!”

Alexandrescu also asked which PSD leader's home had hosted alleged negotiations over the foreign minister post for Victor Ponta and leadership posts at Doi și-un sfert and SRI.

Oana Gheorghiu, a former vice-premier, criticised the explanations given by Grindeanu and health minister Alexandru Rogobete in a Facebook post. According to that post, Rogobete argued that people would not have been so angry had Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan not impoverished them to an extreme degree. Gheorghiu wrote that Grindeanu, Ciolacu, Simonis and Rogobete had worked only in the state and had grown rich, and warned that ignoring public grievances would bring a backlash at the ballot box.