After the media revealed that Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has resorted to creating a mini-golf course for his own relaxation at the protocol villa, the liberals (his party) rush to his defense.
More specifically, Rareş Bogdan says that what was built in Neptun is not a golf course because… it doesn’t have 70 hectares. It’s just a patch of grass cut for swinging a club. And he prefers this to a… winery. What made him think of a winery is not clear.
Here is the statement quoted in full by Antena3:
"I have been a golf player since 2003 and have been on many golf courses in New Zealand, America, Europe, and North Africa. So that (the Iohannis villa course - ed.) is not a golf course.
A golf course is 65-70 hectares. A smaller one, with nine holes, is 25 hectares. There, at that location, there is a small lake that has been there since the '60s and around it, a grass lawn. No trees have been cut, no beach has been greened.
Here, at the Modrogan villa, where the party's headquarters are (PNL - ed.) or at the USL headquarters or wherever, wherever there is a patch of grass, someone can swing a club, train on the existing grass. The grass around the hole is cut a little lower.
That is, to call a patch of grass a golf course seems a bit much to me. Now, what should we do? A winery? You should know that, between a winery and a tennis court, I prefer the tennis court."
G4Media published images yesterday showing that in the courtyard of the Nufărul villa in Neptun, used by President Klaus Iohannis, a mini-golf course has appeared - three golf holes are arranged around the lake.
Although golf courses have 18 holes, there are also these kinds for personal relaxation, not for multiple players.
Asked about the subject, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu replied:
"I have never visited the protocol villa of the president in Neptun. (...) RA-APPS is under the General Secretariat, I do not know how the works are carried out, what formulas - from own revenues, I saw from the mass media that many works were done by RA-APPS. I can't believe that the director of RA-APPS would have thought of making a golf course - if it exists."