Media News - Monday, September 03, 2012

Romanian PM claims ex-secret police working in German press

Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta alleged in an extraordinary outburst that former Communist-era secret police had infiltrated the German press and were to blame for critiques of his rule, AFP reported. He claimed agents under ex-Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu who slipped into German media ranks two decades ago were behind the recent bad press over a failed attempt by Ponta's party to impeach rival President Traian Basescu. "In Germany, Ceausescu's former Securitate has and continue to have its best men in the press," Ponta said in an interview with private television channel Antena 3 late Friday. "There are people there who, if you look at the last 20 years, are the only ones to write about Romania and they do it 'correctly'," he said with irony, adding they "speak Romanian as well as you and me" despite their German names. Ponta's ruling centre-left coalition launched a move in July to remove centre-right Basescu, which led to a referendum that failed as voter turnout fell short of the required 50 percent threshold. Germany and other countries, along with the European Union and several rights groups, sharply criticised the impeachment move and expressed concern the EU country's democracy was under threat. (Focus )

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