Nicușor Dan defends barring journalist Ovidiu Vanghele from Cotroceni press conferences

The decision and its timing

Romanian President Nicușor Dan announced on 10 November that journalist Ovidiu Vanghele could no longer attend press conferences at the Cotroceni Palace. Two days later, on Thursday evening, 12 November, he gave his first explanation of the decision while in Dublin for the European Political Community summit. He did not revoke the ban. He said it should not be read as a penalty for Vanghele's journalism, but as a consequence of his behaviour in public space. The president framed his remarks as three levels of discussion, each with its own reasoning.

Personal dignity and public office

Dan said the first level is the dignity of the person. He said that, as a human being, he has the right not to engage in dialogue with someone who does not respect him.

“I am not garbage. And as a human being, I have the right not to engage in dialogue with a person who does not respect me.”

The second level, which he called more important, is the dignity of public office. He said that symbolically he heads the Romanian state apparatus, and listed police officers, nurses, teachers, civil servants and judges as the people who work for that state. He said he could not accept any of them being treated as garbage by a citizen, calling it a lack of respect toward the state itself and toward its authority.

Democratic channels and the question of violence

Dan said citizens who are dissatisfied have legitimate options, including protests, court action and criminal complaints. He said the best course is for citizens to cooperate with the authorities, and that such means are democratic ones he has nothing against. He also argued that Romanian citizens have often said the state is not respected enough, both at home and abroad, and said the state should start by respecting itself.

The third level, in his account, concerns violence in public space. He argued that verbal abuse leads to physical violence and asked what a child would learn if a citizen could call the president garbage. He said such a child might come to treat a teacher or a parent the same way, and that public space must be protected from such behaviour.

“Verbal violence generates physical violence.”

Vanghele's reply

Vanghele responded on Facebook after the press conference marathon. He called the president's action absolutely unacceptable and wrote that the president had buried himself politically and morally. He added that from that moment the president no longer existed for him. Dan's remarks came after that exchange and did not change the ban on Vanghele attending press conferences at Cotroceni.