Ionuț Moşteanu (USR) has submitted his resignation from the position of Minister of Defense, after a scandal erupted yesterday regarding false information published in an official CV.
- Moșteanu published his diploma from Bioterra, after previously stating in a CV that he graduated from another private university. Now he declares himself embarrassed by the „mistake”
- Bolojan, regarding Moșteanu and the invented university: I don’t work with diplomas. I told him: Chin up!
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan has acknowledged Moşteanu's resignation and will propose to the president that Radu Miruţă, the Minister of Economy, assume the interim position at Defense. The portfolio remains with USR, which will propose a new minister.
USR spokesperson, Cristian Seidler, emphasized that Ionuț Moșteanu's resignation is a strictly personal decision, entirely his own. USR leader, Dominic Fritz, praised him as "an honest man, a proud father who chose to get involved courageously when others preferred not to expose themselves."
Resignation of Sacrifice
In a Facebook post, Moşteanu explains the reasons for his resignation and thanks his colleagues and family for their support.
“I have discussed with the president, the prime minister, the party president, and some of my colleagues from USR, and I thank them for their support and trust. I make this gesture with responsibility and respect for the Romanian Army,” Moșteanu wrote.
The minister emphasized that national security remains the main concern: “Romania and Europe are under attack by Russia. Our national security must be defended at all costs. I do not want discussions about my background and mistakes made many years ago to distract those who are currently leading the country from their difficult mission.”
Moșteanu also expressed his gratitude to his colleagues in the Government and USR for their work:
“I thank all my colleagues for the work done in these five months. I took the oath as Minister of Defense five months ago and since then, I have faithfully upheld what I swore on the Bible.”
He detailed the achievements of his mandate: “I swore to dedicate all my power and skills to have a well-equipped, more motivated, and better-equipped Army. And I did this every day - strengthened relationships with allies, monitored and accelerated equipment programs, sent a clear message against smart boys with interests in the field, improved the legal framework, defended the rights of those who serve the country.”
The minister expressed his thanks to his family and explained that the decision was made with a sense of duty to the country: “Thank you for your trust, messages, and patience. I thank my family for their unconditional support in these months, without which it would have been impossible for me to fulfill my mandate. I took this step with the full consciousness of a man who loves the country he serves.”
In conclusion, Moșteanu conveyed a message about the political situation in Romania.
“And a thought about the future - Romania is caught between some who have captured it and are sucking public money and some who want to set it on fire and deviate it from the pro-European and Euro-Atlantic path. In the middle are a few good people (good, not perfect) who maintain balance and the right direction - Nicușor Dan, Ilie Bolojan, colleagues from USR, often with enormous sacrifices. They deserve our continued support and trust, perhaps even more than before. May God protect Romania!”
The Studies Scandal
Ionuț Moșteanu's resignation comes after the scandal related to his studies. Libertatea reported that Minister Ionuț Moșteanu held, in 2015 – 2016, the position of minister's counselor at the Ministry of Transport, and was a member of the Board of Directors of state-owned companies, positions that required, according to the legislation in force at the time, higher education studies.
The higher education studies that the Minister of Defense declared in his CV during that period consisted of a diploma from Athenaeum University, a diploma that he later removed from his official biographies. In turn, the university stated that Moșteanu was never a student there.
On Thursday, Ionuț Moșteanu posted on Facebook his bachelor's degree diploma obtained from Bioterra University, admitting embarrassedly that the Athenaeum degree was a lie.
“In a CV made in 2016, on a template taken from the internet, a mistake remained that I admit embarrasses me. I did not pay much attention to these details at the time. For this, I apologize,” Moșteanu explained.
Asked about this issue, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said Thursday evening on Digi24 that he did not select ministers based on diplomas, but on how he works with them, but acknowledges that the publicized information "does not put Ionuț Moșteanu in a favorable position."
“The ministers of this government are proposals from political parties within the governmental framework. This is also the case with Mr. Moșteanu,” the prime minister stated. Bolojan clarified that he did not analyze CVs when forming the government team: “I tried not to work with CVs, with diplomas, but I tried to work with the minister himself.”