PACKAGE DEAL: NEW ROMANIAN DEFMIN AND EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER NAMED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BUCHAREST 001644



SIPDIS



SENSITIVE

SIPDIS



DEPT FOR EUR/NCE AARON JENSEN



E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/24/2016

TAGS: PGOV, PREL, MARR, SOCI, RO

SUBJECT: PACKAGE DEAL: NEW ROMANIAN DEFMIN AND EUROPEAN

COMMISSIONER NAMED



REF: A) BUCHAREST 01450 B) BUCHAREST 01600



BUCHAREST 00001644 001.3 OF 002





Classified By: DCM Mark Taplin for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).



1. (C) Summary: Following President Basescu,s October 25

visit to Victoria Palace, Basescu and Prime Minister

Tariceanu hammered out an agreement to give the Democrats

their choice for Minister of Defense, while letting the

Liberals name the European Commissioner. Subsequently,

Minister of Defense Teodor Atanasiu offered his resignation,

Romania nominated Liberal executive member Varujan Vosganian

as the next European Commissioner, and the PD's Sorin

Frunzaverde as DefMin. This tradeoff appears to give Basescu

firm control over the MOD. End Summary.



2. (C) President Basescu paid an unusual visit to Prime

Minister Tariceanu on the morning of October 25, ending two

major disputes between the two palaces at one stroke: who

controls the Defence Ministry and who nominates the next

European Commissioner? The results of the negotiations

became immediately apparent as, in rapid procession, DefMin

Teodor Atanasiu resigned, PNL,s Varujan Vosganian was

nominated for EU Commissioner, and PD,s Sorin Frunzaverde

was named as the new DefMin.



Anastasiu Throws in the Towel

--------------



3. (C) Suspended Minister of Defense Teodor Atanasiu

announced his resignation in a press conference after a

weekly government meeting, declaring that he wanted to put to

an end the conflict between himself and President Basescu.

Atanasiu said his resignation was in the "best interests" of

the military since it was currently in a &crisis.8 In press

statements, the outgoing DefMin accused the president of

infringing the law by refusing to revoke the decree that led

to his suspension 44 days ago (reftel A). Atanasiu also

opined that he thought that it was impossible for a member of

the National Liberal Party to develop a good working

relationship with the President.



4. (C) President Basescu had earlier announced on October 24

his refusal to revoke Atanasiu,s suspension, indicating he

would instead approve the High Court Prosecutor,s launch of

a new investigation into Atanasiu,s alleged abuse of office

and corruption charges, filed by former Chief of the General

Staff Eugen Badalan on September 25. Since the Prime

Minister,s and Atanasiu,s surprise demand for the

withdrawal of Romanian troops from Iraq in late June,

tensions between the two palaces over the Defense Ministry

have been highly visible. President Baescu sidelined Atanasiu

in favor of CHOD Badalan on official visits, and the DefMin

retaliated with a corruption investigation that resulted in

Badalan,s resignation (ref B). In turn, the President

approved a corruption investigation of a sitting cabinet

minister, leading the PM to ask for Atanasiu,s resignation.



European Commissioner Also Named

--------------



5. (C) According to some PNL members, Tariceanu finally

agreed to trade the Ministry of Defense portfolio to the

Democratic Party in exchange for the President,s endorsement

of the government,s nomination for European Commissioner.

PNL Senator Varujan Vosganian was the government,s

nomination for the Commission slot, but Basescu reportedly

opposed the nomination, preferring instead FM Mihai-Razvan

Ungureanu or Minister of Integration Anca Boagiu.



6. (C) At the beginning of the weekly government meeting, PM

Tariceanu announced that PNL Senator and party spokesperson

Varujan Vosganian was the government,s nomination for

European Commissioner. One hour later, PD leaders nominated

PD vice-president Sorin Frunzaverde to replace Atanasiu as

Minister of Defense. PD Vice President Videanu confirmed

publicly it was a political decision to give the MOD to the

Democratic Party in exchange for the Liberals to nominate the

European Commissioner. PM,s Chief of Staff Mihnea

Constantinescu in a conversation with Polcouns characterized

the negotiations as a &Noisy day, but with a good outcome,8

adding that &both were good choices.8 Vosganian appeared on

television to say that he was honored and indicated he would

travel to Brussels that night.



7. (C) Bio Note on Incoming European Commissioner Vosganian:



Varujan Vosganian was nominated by PM Calin Popescu-Tariceanu

to be the Romanian member of the European Commission on



BUCHAREST 00001644 002.4 OF 002





October 25. Vosganian is a member of the National Liberal

Party since 2003, when the party he initiated (The Union of

Right-Wing Forces) merged into the PNL. Vosganian is the

party spokesperson and an alternate member to the PNL

Executive Committee, one of the top executive party bodies.

Vosganian is the co-author of the economic chapters of the

PNL-PD governing program.



Vosganian has been an important parliamentary player in the

current legislative period in pushing forward the DA Alliance

(PNL/PD) agenda on economic reform. As a PNL Senator,

Vosganian,s support was crucial to the Alliance,s

introduction of a flat tax (in 2004) that helped bring in

more revenues from the gray and black economy into state

coffers.



First as a Deputy and now Senator Vosganian has been

consistently a professional, technical and competent MP on

economic issues in the Romanian Parliament. He is Chair of

the Senate,s Economic Committee and also Deputy PNL Leader.

He is a fierce Tariceanu loyalist and supported the PNL call

for a pullout from Iraq (although privately he admitted that

the manner in which it was raised was unfortunate)



Vosganian was elected in November 2004 in the Romanian

Senate, representing the PNL in Iasi county. He chaired the

Budget, Finance and Banking Committee in the Senate.

Vosganian has a long parliamentary career, beginning in 1990

as the representative of the Armenian minority in the

Romanian Chamber of Deputies. He was reelected as

representative of the Armenian minority in 1992. In 1996, he

was again elected to the Chamber of Deputies as a Senator for

Iasi representing the Romanian Alternative Party (later

renamed the Union of Right-Wing Forces).



Vosganian has a degree in economics (1982) and mathematics

(1991). He holds a PhD in economics since 1998 and wrote

books and articles on Romanian economy and finances.

Vosganian is the founder of the Romanian Society for Economy

and is a member of the International Experts Council from the

European center for Political Studies (Brussels). He is an

associate professor at the Academy for Economic Studies.

Vosganian is also a writer and a poet and was a year ago

elected the executive president of the Romanian Writers,

Union.



Vosganian has a bright analytical mind and is fluent in

English and French. He also has a macro-economic vision that

is very free-market oriented. His liberal economic views

minimize the state,s role in the economy. He has good,

solid relationships in the Romanian finance-banking-capital

markets. He genuinely listens to opinions in one-on-one

discussions. He enjoys discussing and debating. He is

pro-American, but even more pro-European, which could make

him an important bridge figure for the USG in the future.



His wife, also of Armenian descent, is a fine composer of

contemporary, modern symphonic music. His parents fled from

Turkey during the early twentieth century. Vosganian is 48,

is married and has a daughter. He reportedly favors Jack

Daniels Whiskey.





8. (SBU) Bio Note on incoming Minister of Defense

Frunzaverde:



Sorin Frunzaverde, aged 46, is a former Defense Minister and

prominent figure in the Democratic Party (PD). He has been

president of the county council of Caras-Severin, a county

south-west of Bucharest, since 2004, an elected position. He

also holds the position of PD vice president and represented

the PD in Parliament between 2000 and 2004. Within the PD,

Frunzaverde supported broading the party,s political profile

and was the PD negotiator for admittance to the European

Popular Party.



An engineer by education, he holds a doctorate in economics

and is a PhD candidate in military sciences. Between 1996

and 2000, under the center-right Constantinescu presidency,

Frunzaverde held the positions of Minister of Waters,

Forests, and Environment Protection (1997-1998),Minister of

Tourism (1998),and Minister of Defense (for eight months in

2000).



Funzaverde authored a book on European security and

integration; he speaks English and German. He is married and

has one child.

Taubman