Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BUCHAREST1667
2006-10-31 17:12:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bucharest
Cable title:  

ROMANIA WITHDRAWS EU COMMISSIONER NOMINATION,

Tags:  PGOV PREL KCOR RO 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO5419
PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHBM #1667/01 3041712
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 311712Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5473
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BUCHAREST 001667 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE DEPT FOR EUR/NCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/12/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL KCOR RO
SUBJECT: ROMANIA WITHDRAWS EU COMMISSIONER NOMINATION,
NAMES LEONARD ORBAN INSTEAD

REF: BUCHAREST 1644

Classified By: DCM MARK TAPLIN FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) & (D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BUCHAREST 001667

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE DEPT FOR EUR/NCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/12/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL KCOR RO
SUBJECT: ROMANIA WITHDRAWS EU COMMISSIONER NOMINATION,
NAMES LEONARD ORBAN INSTEAD

REF: BUCHAREST 1644

Classified By: DCM MARK TAPLIN FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) & (D)


1. (SBU) Summary: Romanian senator and Liberal Party
spokesperson Varujan Vosganian withdrew his nomination for
European Commissioner amid allegations of links to the
Communist-era Securitate and shady financial ties. The
timing of the allegations lead many to speculate that this
was politics Romanian-style being played out on the EU stage.
Romania's next nominee was kept quiet until European
Commission President Barroso announced his acceptance of
Leonard Orban, the lead negotiator on Romania's EU accession.
Orban appears to enjoy broad support, even from the
opposition Social Democrats. He is a technocrat acceptable
to all parties, and who is well known to Brussels. However,
he has been awarded a relatively insignificant portfolio --
European Commissioner in charge of "multilingualism." End
Summary.


2. (SBU) In an embarrassing turn of events, Romania withdrew
its nomination for Varujan Vosganian as European Commissioner
on October 28, after allegations surfaced regarding his
financial connections to a reputedly corrupt businessman as
well as his alleged past as an officer in the Securitate, the
Communist secret police. Vosganian's request for Prime
Minister Tariceanu to withdraw his candidacy followed talks
in Brussels with European Commission President Jose Manuel
Barroso, who delayed confirmation of Romania's nomination.
According to press reports, Barroso rejected the candidate on
grounds that he lacked credentials -- he was unknown on the
European level and never served within the Romanian
government. Vosganian's unsuitability was confirmed when
allegations surfaced that Vosganian had a hidden past as a
Securitate collaborator and that his previous party, the
Union of Democratic Forces (which merged with the Liberal
Party),had been financed by Romanian businessman and media
magnate Sorin Ovidiu Vantu, a wealthy speculator involved in
the collapse of a major investment fund and a bank in 2000.
Vosganian denied the allegations when announcing the

withdrawal of his nomination, but said he did not want to
tarnish Romania's image through lengthy confirmation hearings.


3. (C) The allegations against Vosganian appeared in the
press on October 27, the same day the Democrats' Sorin
Frunzaverde was sworn in as Minister of Defense, securing the
key element of the Democratic Party's trade-off of the
Defense Ministry slot in return for the Liberals nominating
the EU Commissioner (reftel). The allegations surfaced in
the leading daily Jurnalul National, when Liviu Turcu, a
former Securitate officer who defected to the U.S. toward the
end of the Ceaucescu era, claimed that one of his
subordinates recruited Vosganian in the 1980s.


4. (C) Following an October 29 meeting with President
Basescu, PM Tariceanu forwarded--but did not announce--the
name of Romania's new nominee for European Commissioner to
Brussels, Leonard Orban. Orban is a state secretary in the
Ministry of European Integration and the brother of Ludovic
Orban, the outspoken leader of the Liberals' Bucharest branch
and vice mayor of Bucharest. Barroso subsequently announced
October 30 that Leonard Orban would be the European
Commissioner in charge of multilingualism. One Liberal
Senator commented to poloff that due to the fiasco caused by
the poor quality of the Prime Minister's first choice,
Barroso dictated Romania's second choice of Orban as someone
whom Brussels could accept.


5. (C) Social Democratic Party Deputy Viorel Hrebenciuc told
poloff October 30 that Orban had broad support as a
technocrat, and was well known in Brussels for his role as
negotiator for EU accession under both this coalition
government and the previous Social Democratic government.
Hrebenciuc described Orban as a liberal, but not beholden to
the Liberal Party, unlike his brother who is a vociferous
critic of Basescu. Hrebenciuc also described Vosganian as a
poor choice, who was selected on the basis that he had nearly
missed out on other senior positions in the Liberal Party.
Others in Bucharest political circles have even pointed the
finger at Washington for having masterminded Vosganian's
demise, citing the fact that whistleblower Turcu, a former
defector, continues to reside in the U.S.


6. (C) Bio note: Leonard Orban is the Romanian nominee for
European Commissioner. He is a state secretary in the
Ministry of European Integration who had a key role in
accession negotiations, serving as deputy chief negotiator
from May 2001 to December 2004, and then chief negotiator
until April 2005. He has been involved in EU issues since
1993, when he became a parliamentary counselor for European

BUCHAREST 00001667 002 OF 002


affairs. He graduated in 1992 from the Economics Academy in
Bucharest and from the Mechanics Faculty in Brasov in 1986.
Besides Romanian, he speaks English and French fluently, and
has moderate Italian language skills. He was awarded with the
Knight of the Star of Romania National Order in 2002 for his
contribution to Romania's Euro-Atlantic integration. He was
born on 28 June 1961 in Brasov, Romania. He is married and
has one child. The European Delegation political counselor
Onno Simons described Orban as nice, competent, balanced,
good mannered. He commented that Orban does not have the
Romanian tendency of talking a lot without saying anything.
All describe Orban as a compliant, non-political personality
who was a placeholder till 2009 when Romania would nominate
its next European Commissioner.


7. (C) Comment: The political theatre and plot twists behind
Romania's nomination of European Commissioner is probably a
harbinger of how Romanian politics will be played out on the
Brussels stage. The fact that the allegations against
Tariceanu ally Vosganian surfaced immediately after Basescu's
choice for Minister of Defense was sworn in led many
commentators to look for the political hand at work. In
fact, the truth may have been still more complex than the
continuing struggle between the two seats of power in the
Romanian government. In the end, Brussels will find the
choice of Leonard Orban, a technocrat rather than a
politician, reassuring if not inspiring. End Comment.
Taubman