Traian Băsescu defends Siegfried Mureșan and rejects accusations that the MEP was a German spy

Former President Traian Băsescu said during a program on România TV that he proposed Siegfried Mureșan as a candidate for the European Parliament and rejected allegations that the MEP had been a spy for Germany’s BND intelligence service.

Băsescu said he met Mureșan within the European People’s Party, where Mureșan was part of the delegation associated with Angela Merkel. The former president said he included him on the PMP candidate list for the European Parliament elections, believing that Romania would send to Brussels a politician capable of speaking several foreign languages.

He described Mureșan’s subsequent rise as a “beautiful” one: Mureșan became the EPP’s spokesman, the European Parliament’s chief negotiator for the European Union budget, and a vice-president of the EU legislature.

Traian Băsescu called the reports of an alleged connection with the German intelligence services “ridiculous” and criticized the use of such accusations in political disputes. He said Mureșan later left the PMP for the PNL, which is why he does not like him, but maintained that attacks should be based on facts. Băsescu also denied receiving money from Gheorghe Ștefan for the election campaign.