Nicușor Dan signed the decree regarding the resignation of Ionuț Moșteanu from the Government. Radu Miruță, temporarily assigned to Defense
Nicușor Dan Photo: Inquam Photos/ George Călin
On Friday, the President of Romania signed the decrees regarding the resignation of Ionuț Moșteanu from the positions of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, respectively the appointment of another USR deputy, Radu Miruță, as interim in the same positions. Miruță already leads the Ministry of Economy, Digitalization, Entrepreneurship and Tourism.
The Presidential Administration announced on Friday evening that Nicușor Dan signed the following decrees:
- Decree acknowledging the resignation of Mr. Liviu-Ionuț Moșteanu, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defense, and stating the termination of his position as a member of the Government;
- Decree appointing Mr. Radu-Dinel Miruță, Minister of Economy, Digitalization, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defense, interim.
Moșteanu left the Government after the scandal related to his studies
Ionuț Moșteanu was appointed to the Ministry of Defense on June 23, with the inauguration of the Bolojan Government, but announced his resignation on Friday, after Libertatea wrote that he falsified his first CV as a member of the Executive.
According to the publication, in the first public positions he held, advisor to the Ministry of Transport and member of several CAs, Athenaeum faculty appears in Ionuț Moșteanu's CV, while now Bioterra appears. Atheneum denied having the current USR deputy as a student.
Moșteanu held, in 2015-2016, the position of advisor to the minister in the Ministry of Transport and member of the CA of some state companies, positions that required, according to the law, higher education.
He then had in his CV that he studied, between 1996 and 2000, Management at the Athenaeum private university in Bucharest. As it appeared from this CV, the diploma from the Athenaeum was the only university diploma that Moşteanu held during that period.
In a response to Libertatea, the Athenaeum University denied that Moșteanu was its student and stated that the Management specialization was not active in those years, being authorized only in 2020. The CV in which the Athenaeum University was listed was deleted from the Tarom website, in the area dedicated to the presentation of Moșteanu, as a member of the Board of Directors.
“I make this gesture with commitment and respect towards the Romanian Army”
Ionuț Moșteanu submitted his resignation from the position of Minister of Defense on Friday.
“I talked with the president, the prime minister, the party president, with some of my colleagues from the USR and I thank them for their support and trust. I do this gesture with commitment and respect for the Romanian Army. Romania and Europe are under the assault of Russia. Our national security must be defended at all costs. I don't want discussions about my training and the mistakes I made many years ago to distract those who are leading the country from their difficult mission,” he declared the USR deputy, on Friday, in a post on Facebook.
USR must come up with a new proposal for a minister with full powers, and it must then be approved by President Nicușor Dan.
