Can a journalist be banned from the president’s conferences? What, specifically, does the law provide / ​First reactions after President Nicușor Dan banned a journalist from accessing Cotroceni

Law no. 544/2001 provides that public authorities must grant journalists accreditation without discrimination and may not prohibit the press from accessing the public events they organize. The provisions came under scrutiny after, on Tuesday, President Nicușor Dan told journalist Ovidiu Vanghele that he would no longer be able to attend press conferences at Cotroceni Palace during his term of office.

The President justified his decision by citing the “insults” the journalist allegedly directed at him after Vanghele asked him for explanations about a vote by Prosecutor General Cristina Chiriac in the prosecutors’ section of the SCM.

Article 18 of the law provides that accreditation is granted without discrimination, upon request, within two days. The refusal or withdrawal of accreditation is permitted only for actions that hinder the authority’s activity and must be communicated in writing. Article 19 establishes that the press may not be denied access to public events.

Dominic Fritz (USR), the SENS Movement, Emilia Şercan, Senator Victoria Stoiciu, former judge Cristi Danileț, the “A Fourth Power” Alliance, and the Snoop editorial office criticized the decision and invoked press freedom. The alliance announced that it would ask the Presidential Administration for the legal basis of the measure.