http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article6968446.ece >From The Sunday Times December 27, 2009 Yes, minister, you have a big portfolio A row is brewing over the decision to appoint Elena Udrea as Romanian cabinet minister responsible for regional development Udrea posed for The One and other magazines in underwear <http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00664/News_664319a.jpg> Udrea posed for The One and other magazines in underwear
Bojan Pancevski, Brussels EUROPES aid budget for Romania, one of the poorest countries in the European Union, has been placed in the hands of a minister who poses for glossy magazines in her underwear and was embroiled in corruption allegations. Elena Udrea, a 36-year-old MP who is married to a controversial local businessman, has been appointed cabinet minister responsible for regional development in the former communist country. Udrea, who has posed in a bikini as well as for professional photoshoots, will control a £3.3 billion budget for the development of Romanias housing, infrastructure and tourism. A parliamentary inquiry into her work as tourism minister recommended opening a criminal investigation into her use of public funds. She rejected the claims as politically motivated and prosecutors decided the allegations were unfounded. She rose to prominence as a protégée of President Traian Basescu amid claims that companies connected to her husband were in receipt of public money during her time in office. Romanian papers have speculated about her closeness to the president. She insists that the relationship is strictly professional. Its outrageous to give her control over the bulk of EU funds in Romania, said Professor Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, the founder of a transparency watchdog. She has a special relationship to the president and her husbands companies profits soared under the current administration. Businesses associated with her husband, Dorin Cocos, include a former monopoly of Bucharests car parks and extensive interests in publicly funded construction projects. Udrea resigned as adviser to the president after allegations that public money had gone to her husbands business associates. A monitoring system has been put in place by Brussels to fight corruption and embezzlement in Romania and Bulgaria, which joined the EU in 2007. Copyright 2009 Times Newspapers Ltd. ---------------------------- Vali "Noble blood is an accident of fortune; noble actions are the chief mark of greatness." "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." Aboneaza-te la <mailto:ngo_list-subscr...@yahoogroups.com> ngo_list: o alternativa moderata (un pic) la [ngolist] Please consider the environment - do you really need to print this email?
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