Florin Cîțu

Prime Minister of Romania from 2020 to 2021

Florin Cîțu
Cîțu in 2021
President of the Senate of Romania
In office
23 November 2021 – 29 June 2022
Preceded byAnca Dragu
Succeeded byAlina Gorghiu (Acting)
Prime Minister of Romania
In office
23 December 2020 – 25 November 2021
PresidentKlaus Iohannis
DeputyDan Barna (2020–2021)
Kelemen Hunor
Preceded byLudovic Orban
Nicolae Ciucă (Acting)
Succeeded byNicolae Ciucă
President of the National Liberal Party
In office
25 September 2021 – 2 April 2022
Preceded byLudovic Orban
Succeeded byGheorghe Flutur (Acting)
Minister of Public Finance
In office
4 November 2019 – 23 December 2020
Prime MinisterLudovic Orban
Nicolae Ciucă (Acting)
Preceded byEugen Teodorovici
Succeeded byAlexandru Nazare
In office
8 July 2021 – 18 August 2021
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byAlexandru Nazare
Succeeded byDan Vîlceanu
Member of the Senate of Romania
Incumbent
Assumed office
21 December 2016
ConstituencyBucharest
Other ministerial offices
Minister of Health
Acting
In office
14 April 2021 – 21 April 2021
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byVlad Voiculescu
Succeeded byIoana Mihăilă
Minister of European Funds
Acting
In office
6 September 2021 – 25 November 2021
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byCristian Ghinea
Succeeded byDan Vîlceanu
Personal details
Born (1972-04-01) 1 April 1972 (age 52)
Râmnicu Vâlcea, Vâlcea County, Romania[1]
Political partyNational Liberal Party (PNL)
EducationGrinnell College (BA)
Iowa State University (MA)
WebsiteOfficial website

Florin Vasile Cîțu (Romanian pronunciation: [floˈrin vaˈsile ˈkɨt͡su]; born 1 April 1972) is a Romanian politician who served as Prime Minister of Romania between December 2020 and November 2021 (acting/ad interim between October and November 2021). Sometimes labeled as Romania's first libertarian Prime Minister,[2][3] he was also the leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL) between September 2021 and April 2022.

After a motion of no-confidence ended his premiership,[4] Cîțu was voted President of the Senate of Romania by the new PSD-PNL-UDMR/RMDSZ CNR coalition established in the Parliament, after the fall of the government he headed in late 2021. However, he resigned from this office also in June 2022, after the same coalition withdrew its support for him. Previously, he also served as Minister of Public Finance in both the first and second cabinet of former PNL Prime Minister Ludovic Orban between 2019 and 2020.

Personal life

Florin Cîțu was born in Râmnicu Vâlcea, although he grew up in the village of Tulei-Câmpeni from Golești commune in Vâlcea County, Oltenia. He was the second ever Prime Minister of Romania from Vâlcea County, after the CDR-supported Mugur Isărescu (a native of Drăgășani).[citation needed]

While abroad for his bachelor studies in the United States at Grinnell College, Cîțu was arrested after being found drunk or under the influence of alcohol while driving DWI and DUI by the American police. He was fined 1,300 USD and jailed for two days.[5]

Education

After graduating from Grinnell College in 1996,[6] Cîțu obtained a master's degree in economics and attended the program for a doctoral degree that he did not complete[7][8] in macroeconomics and international economics from Iowa State University in 2001.[9]

Early career

Following university graduation, Cîțu worked as an economist for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (2001–2003) and the European Investment Bank (2003–2005).[10] He also worked as an investment banker at ING Group's Romanian division up until 2011, when he was fired on the grounds of incompetence and because of lack of professionalism given that he proved incapable of working well in teams (preferring to do whatever he wanted instead), as subsequently reported by his employer Mișu Negrițoiu who went on to describe him as 'a little satrap'.[11]

Political career

Minister of Finance

In 2019, the joint budget and finance committee of the Parliament of Romania failed to endorse the nomination of Cîțu as finance minister, though their vote was not binding.[12]

On 26 February 2020, following the vote of no confidence against the Orban Cabinet that had taken place 5 February,[13] President Klaus Iohannis designated Cîțu Prime Minister of Romania and asked him to form a new government.[14][15] Just before the investiture vote took place, Cîțu stepped back in favor of his party leader Ludovic Orban. Due to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, the main opposition party, i.e. the Social Democratic Party (PSD), agreed to another term of the Orban cabinet until the December 2020 legislative election. Consequently, Florin Cîțu took back his position as finance minister until the formation of his own cabinet in late December 2020.[16]

Prime Minister

After 9 December 2020, Cîțu was the National Liberal Party's Prime Minister proposal[17] to succeed acting head of government Nicolae Ciucă (also issued from the PNL),[18][19] following the resignation of Ludovic Orban on 7 December.[20] Cîțu became Prime Minister on 23 December, forming a three-party coalition government. The composition of his cabinet was criticised for having only one female minister and for the appointment of Sorin Cîmpeanu, who in a previous ministerial position had proposed legislation "that protected those found to have plagiarised their academic theses".[21]

Florin Cîțu graffiti in Bucharest

During the term of his cabinet, he served as acting Minister of Health (between 14 and 21 April 2021) as a result of the firing of preceding Minister Vlad Voiculescu.[22] On 8 July, he took back the position of Minister of Public Finance for a second time after preceding Minister Alexandru Nazare was ousted, this time acting,[23] until Dan Vîlceanu was sworn in on 18 August.[24]

In September 2021, the coalition was threatened by the withdrawal of USR PLUS party members, following the sacking on no pertinent reported grounds of former Justice Minister, Stelian Ion.[25] The USR PLUS entered parliamentary opposition and put forth a motion of no confidence alongside AUR, thus triggering a major governmental crisis in Romania, which was already hit hard by the fourth wave of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

His former coalition partners, USR PLUS, heavily criticized Cîțu for the adoption of PNDL3 and Anghel Saligny projects through emergency ordinances, two public procurement money-based projects which they deemed corrupt and thereby legitimizing theft from public money and EU funds. Subsequently, Cîțu's position as Prime Minister has been backed by a boycotting of the no confidence motion by both PNL and PSD up to the current day.

In the meantime, his own political party has been swept from public trust (constantly registering lower points in the opinion polls conducted by various institutes for the upcoming legislative elections) and has undergone increased internal turmoil with respect to the congress scheduled for 25 September. In addition, in late September 2021, DNA officially started the criminal investigation in Florin Cîțu's case on the grounds of abuse of office and incitement to abuse of office as Prime Minister.[26]

On 5 October 2021, Cîțu was ousted from his position as Prime Minister after a vote of no-confidence. Former coalition partners USR (previously USR PLUS) described the vote as stemming from "all the reforms that have been blocked in recent months, for the failure of the vaccination campaign, for the use of money and public functions to buy votes at the PNL congress".[27] After the successful vote of no-confidence, Cîțu continued to serve as acting/ad interim Prime Minister until the next cabinet, led by Nicolae Ciucă, was sworn in a month later.[28]

President of the National Liberal Party (PNL)

On 25 September 2021, Cîțu became president of the National Liberal Party (PNL), as a result of defeating previous party president Ludovic Orban in a party congress held on the same day at Romexpo in Bucharest before approximately 5,000 delegates.[29]

Cîțu resigned from this position on 2 April 2022, under pressure from his party colleagues.[30]

President of the Senate

On 23 November 2021, Cîțu became president of the Senate, after Anca Dragu of the Save Romania Union (USR) was dismissed earlier that day.[31]

In this capacity he visited Ukraine in April 2022, in the context of the Russian invasion, after the invitation of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk. Cîțu met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and held a speech as part of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. After visiting Hostomel, Irpin and Bucha, which have been heavily damaged by the aggression, Cîțu strongly condemned the war crimes committed by the Russian army, and highlighted that Russia must pay Ukraine war reparations for the massive damage caused. He also said that Romania should officially propose to the European Commission the establishment of a special position, to coordinate with the Ukrainian side the reconstruction of this country.[32] His visit in Ukraine led to the 2022 cyberattacks on Romania, when a pro-Kremlin hacking group launched a series of DDoS attacks against multiple Romanian websites, including governmental ones.

Cîțu resigned from this office on 29 June 2022. As with the PNL presidency, he was pressured to take this step by the PNL leadership (led by Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă) that succeeded him, who withdrew party support for Cîțu after he criticized the actions of the government led by Ciucă. This was the last remaining political office held by Cîțu.[33][34]

Other activities

Published work

  • 2006 - "Inflation Targeting: what are the crucial issues in practice?" (with Olivier Basdevant) published in the book Trends in Monetary Policy Issues, New Science Publishers
  • 2005 - "Effects of Capital Account liberalisation – The case of Romania"
  • 2003 - "Inflation Targeting: what are the crucial issues in practice?" (with Olivier Basdevant) Policy Paper National Bank of Romania.
  • 2003 - "The output gap and its role in monetary policy decision-making" (with James Twaddle), published RBNZ Bulletin
  • 2002 - "Inflation targeting vs. Price Level Targeting", Reserve Bank New Zealand Bulletin

Foreign honours

See also

References

  1. ^ Mitrache, Daciana (13 January 2021). "De la coada vacii la studii în SUA: locurile copilăriei premierului Cîțu, încremenite în Evul Mediu FOTO". Adevărul (in Romanian).
  2. ^ Pora, Andreea (7 July 2021). "Cinci declarații ciudate ale premierului Cîțu. Și o enigmă". Europa Liberă România.
  3. ^ "Florin Cîțu, premierul jucător". 22 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Guvernul Cîțu a fost demis. Au votat 281 de parlamentari moțiunea de cenzură". www.digi24.ro (in Romanian). 5 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  5. ^ Dan Tăpălagă (12 August 2021). "Cum a înșelat Florin Cîțu încrederea alegătorilor și colegilor săi ca om politic". G4Media (in Romanian). Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  6. ^ Regenold, Michele. "A Game Like Cat and Dog". The Grinnell Magazine. No. Fall 2018. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  7. ^ Tatu, Liviu (26 February 2020). Zbora-Ciurel, Mariana; Aruștei, Simona (eds.). "Florin-Vasile Cîțu, propus pentru funcția de prim-ministru (fișă biografică)" [Florin-Vasile Cîțu, proposed for the prime minister function (biographical file)]. AGERPRES (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  8. ^ V.M. (26 February 2020). "Cine este Florin Cîțu, noul premier desemnat" [Who is Florin Cîțu, the newly designated prime minister]. HotNews.ro (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Citu appointed Romania's prime minister-designate". Iowa State University – Department of Economics. 27 February 2020. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  10. ^ Rosca, Matei (19 December 2020). "Liberal Florin Cîțu put forward to be Romania's next prime minister". Politico Europe. Archived from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  11. ^ Neacșu, Bobi (4 September 2021). "Mișu Negrițoiu, fostul șef al lui Florin Cîțu: "Un mic satrap, foarte învechit, nu știe să lucreze în echipă"". Libertatea (in Romanian). Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  12. ^ Marinas, Radu (29 October 2020). Heavens, Andrew (ed.). "Romania parliament committee fails to endorse finance minister nominee". Reuters. Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  13. ^ "Romanian Government Toppled In No-Confidence Vote". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 5 February 2020. Archived from the original on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  14. ^ Braghiș, Nicoleta (26 February 2020). "A fost desemnat un nou candidat pentru funcția de premier al României" [A new candidate was designated for Romania's premier function]. Ziarul de Gardă (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  15. ^ Budescu, Daniel (26 February 2020). "BREAKING Klaus Iohannis: Azi am decis să îl desemnez pentru poziția de premier pe domnul Florin Cîțu" [BREAKING Klaus Iohannis: Today I've decided to designate Florin Cîțu for the premier position]. G4Media (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  16. ^ "Florin Citu steps down just before the investiture vote in Parliament, President to call parties for consultations again". The Romania Journal. 12 March 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  17. ^ Petrescu, Ana (9 December 2020). "UPDATE – Ludovic Orban anunță oficial că Florin Cîțu este propunerea PNL de premier. A fost sugestia președintelui ca fiecare să scriem separat propunerea de premier și am scris același nume / Cîțu: Pentru mine e o onoare această nominalizare – VIDEO". News.ro (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 9 December 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  18. ^ Peia, Florentina (7 December 2020). Tănăsescu, Georgiana; Dădârlat, Adrian Dădârlat (eds.). "Nicolae Ciucă – prim-ministru interimar". AGERPRES (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  19. ^ "DECRET nr. 1.047 din 7 decembrie 2020 pentru desemnarea unui membru al Guvernului ca prim-ministru interimar" [DECREE No. 1,047 from 7 December 2020 for the designation of a member of the Government as acting prime minister]. Decree No. 1,047 of 7 December 2020 (in Romanian). President of Romania.
  20. ^ Kiss, Robert, ed. (7 December 2020). "Ludovic Orban și-a dat demisia din funcția de prim-ministru". Digi24 (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 9 December 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  21. ^ Turp-Balazs, Craig (23 December 2020). "Women left out in the cold as Florin Cîțu becomes Romania's PM". Emerging Europe. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  22. ^ "Oficial: Vlad Voiculescu, demis de premier. Dan Barna va fi ministrul interimar al sănătății. Președintele a semnat decretul". Digi24 (in Romanian). 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  23. ^ "UPDATE Klaus Iohannis a semnat decretul de revocare a lui Alexandru Nazare. Florin Cîțu, desemnat interimar la Ministerul de Finanțe". Digi24 (in Romanian). 7 August 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  24. ^ "Dan Vîlceanu a depus jurământul la Palatul Cotroceni. Klaus Iohannis nu a făcut nicio declaraţie. Cum a comentat echipa Orban gestul şefului statului". Adevărul (in Romanian). 18 August 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  25. ^ "Romania's ruling coalition in crisis after PM Florin Cîțu dismisses justice minister". EuroNews. 2 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  26. ^ Gabriel Tudor (22 September 2021). "DNA a început urmărirea penală în dosarul lui Florin Cîțu. Acuzațiile: abuz în serviciu și instigare la abuz în serviciu". DigiFM.ro. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  27. ^ Crowcroft, Orlando (5 October 2021). "Romania faces political deadlock after PM Citu ousted". euronews. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  28. ^ "Guvernul PSD-PNL-UDMR a fost învestit de Parlament cu 318 voturi "pentru" / Ciucă: Ne aflăm într-un moment mult așteptat de toți românii / Ciolacu: Nu voi minți niciodată că am învins pandemia / Barna: De ce nu l-ați chemat direct pe Dragnea să îi predați Ministerul Justiției?". G4Media.ro (in Romanian). 25 November 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  29. ^ "Florin Cîţu este noul preşedinte al PNL, cu 60,2% din voturi". Antena 3. 25 September 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  30. ^ "VIDEO Florin Cîțu demisionează de la șefia PNL, la 6 luni de la alegerea în funcție / Își chemase colegii în ședință să îi anunțe, dar n-a venit nimeni / Ce spune despre "compromisul" cu PSD". www.hotnews.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  31. ^ "Florin Cîțu este noul președinte al Senatului, după ce Anca Dragu a fost revocată. USR va contesta decizia la CCR". 23 November 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  32. ^ "Primele imagini cu Florin Cîțu în Ucraina: "Ceea ce am văzut deschide ochii lumii asupra acțiunilor Rusiei"". www.antena3.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  33. ^ "Florin Cîțu a demisionat de la șefia Senatului. Alina Gorghiu va ocupa interimar funcția".
  34. ^ "Florin Cîțu demisionează de la fruntea Senatului. Cine preia interimatul".
  35. ^ "Fostul economist sef al ING Bank, Florin Citu, a fost concediat". economie.hotnews.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  36. ^ Florin Marinescu (4 September 2021). "Mișu Negrițoiu, fostul șef al lui Florin Cîțu, explică de ce l-a concediat din ING: "Un mic satrap, foarte învechit, nu știe să lucreze în echipă"". G4Media (in Romanian). Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  37. ^ Realitatea.net (4 September 2021). "Omul care l-a dat afară pe Cîțu RUPE tăcerea: "E un satrap. Nu știe să lucreze în echipă. Orban poate duce mai departe PNL"". Realitatea.net (in Romanian). Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  38. ^ Alina Toma. "Mișu Negrițoiu dezvăluie motivul pentru care l-a concediat pe Cîțu de la ING: "Un mic satrap, foarte învechit, nu știe să lucreze în echipă"". Ziare.comdate=4 September 2021 (in Romanian). Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  39. ^ Melania Agiu (4 September 2021). "Fostul şef al lui Florin Cîţu explică de ce l-a concediat din ING Bank: "Nu ştie să lucreze în echipă şi chiar crede că poate să facă orice"". Adevărul.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  40. ^ "EBRD Shareholders and Board of Governors". European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Archived from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  41. ^ "Board of Governors". European Investment Bank (EIB). Archived from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  42. ^ "Governors and alternates" (PDF). World Bank. p. 28. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  43. ^ Decree of the President of Ukraine from 23 августа 2021 year № 403/2021 «О награждении Ф.-В. Кыцу орденом "За заслуги"» (in Ukrainian)
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Eugen Teodorovici
 Minister of Public Finance
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Preceded by Prime Minister of Romania
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Preceded by President of the Romanian Senate
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