More than 10 MEPs will resign from the European Legislature at the end of the current mandate, some of them will even leave politics.
Traian Băsescu and Corina Crețu are no longer running for a mandate in PE FOTO Colaj/ Facebook
The list of those who are no longer among the parties' proposals for the European Parliament, nor are they running independently, is opened by former president Traian Băsescu, who renounces politics, opening an NGO. The former head of state of Romania had a mandate, entering the PMP list in 2020.
Similar is the situation of Corina Crețu, who recently resigned from PRO Romania, following a scandal regarding the party's negotiation with AUR. Thus, she is no longer proposed for a new mandate or another political position. Crețu is a former journalist, she was appointed European Commissioner for Regional Policy in 2014 and was the spokesperson of President Ion Iliescu, and she obtained her first MEP mandate in 2007.
PSD and PNL exchange five MEPs
Five current MEPs are missing from the PSD-PNL joint list. One of the cases is that of the liberal representative Marian-Jean Marinescu, who became the longest-serving Romanian MEP, entering the European Legislature immediately after accession, in 2007.
Even Vasile Blaga will not continue his activity in the European Parliament. In 2019, he entered the PNL list, having only one mandate here, but he has a long history in the Romanian Parliament, where he was elected five times.
Gheorghe Vlad Nistor, who took over the mandate of Adina Vălean, after she was appointed European commissioner, is no longer on the list, as is Cristian Bușoi, who recently took over the interim leadership of PNL Timiș.
And the first names on the previous PSD list are leaving the European Parliament. It is about the former minister Rovana Plumb, but also about Carmen Avram, a former journalist, who has only one active mandate. Rovana Plumb has a longer political career, being several times a minister, but also a member of the European Parliament or a member of the Romanian Parliament.
And REPER, a party now led by two co-presidents, Ramona Strugariu and Dragoș Pîslaru, withdraws two members of the European Parliament, Dragoș Tudorache and Alin Mituță.
Tudor Ciuhodaru, the doctor who left the PSD, is leaving the European Parliament after joining the AUR party, from which he is running for Iași City Hall.
How many MEPs do the parties have?
The PSD-PNL alliance could capture 14 mandates in the future European legislature, the percentages calculated later could possibly bring 17 or even 18 mandates. PNL now has 10 MEPs, and PSD has 8, with PUSL representative Maria Grapini. Currently, REPER has five MEPs, but the chances of still getting seats in the European Parliament are very low, the party being rated at 1%-2%. AUR still has no MEPs, its chances being 6 MEPs or 8 in redistribution.
