Romanian President in open conflict with prime minister

In a press conference on Wednesday, President Basescu confirmed the fact that prime minister Tariceanu asked him through a hand-written note to attempt to influence the Justice.

Basescu said that PM Tariceanu offered him a „partnership with our oligarchs”. The secrecy on this note, lasting for over two years is also explained by Basescu: „the government would have lost its credibility, thus jeopardizing the accession to the European Union”.

„It was then when I lost confidence in the prime minister”. The document that stirred the scandal „is not very interesting, it just asks a question, after announcing me about a report on Petromidia, whether I would talk to the prosecutors about the case”, says Basescu.

PM Tariceanu responded immediately: „I looked all day and saw nothing but lies”, said Tariceanu in the opening of his speech. The prime minister says that the note doesn’t contain anything illegal and is not a demand to influence Justice.

„The document only intended to draw the president’s attention towards important illegal actions took by state’s representatives”, says Tariceanu, adding that „This attack is caused by the fact that I refused to become a puppet in the political and economical games of president Basescu”.