VZCZCXRO5419
PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHBM #1667/01 3041712
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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) 
 
¶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