Varujan Vosganian

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Varujan Vosganian (born 25 July 1958) is a Romanian politician of Armenian ethnicity. As of 2006, he is a member of the National Liberal Party and is the Romania's Minister of Economy and Commerce in the Tăriceanu cabinet.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Political views 3 References 4 Notes 5 External links

[edit] Biography

Born in Craiova, Vosganian studied at the Alexandru Ioan Cuza High School in Focşani. He then studied Commerce at the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies (graduated 1982) and Mathematics at the University of Bucharest (graduated 1991), gaining a PhD in economics in 1998.

In 1990, he became president of the Armenians' Union of Romania and he was twice (1990-1992 and 1992-1996) elected a member of the Chamber of Deputies and twice a Senator (1996-2000 and 2004-2008), on the lists of the National Liberal Party.

Between 1996 and 2003, he was the leader of Uniunea Forţelor de Dreapta, a small right wing liberal party, which was eventually merged into the National Liberal Party.

Vosganian has written several books, especially on economics, politics, but also fiction and poetry. He is a member of the Romanian Writers' Union and since 2005, he has served as its vice president. Vosganian is also a leading member of the Romanian Humorists' Association.

In October 2006, he was nominated to be a member of the European Commission, after Romania joins the EU on January 1, 2007. After his nomination, some Romanian newspapers claimed that he was a Securitate informer^[1], but the charges were disproved within days and the National Council for Studying the Securitate's Archives (CNSAS) announced that he did not collaborate with the Securitate. Vosganian intends to sue the newspaper.

Moreover, leading EU Socialists claimed he had no "European profile" and was "on the payroll of big economic tycoons". ^[2] As a consequence, Vosganian decided to retract his candidature on October 28.^[3]

In December 2006, he was named Minister of Economy and commerce.^[4]

[edit] Political views

Even though he is a member of the National Liberal Party, and is a supporter of economic liberalism, Vosganian's political views can be characterised as right-wing conservative. The party which he was leader of until 2003, the Uniunea Forţelor de Dreapta, was described as having an "extremist background" by Liliana Ruse, a journalist at the Gândul newspaper, particularly for making statements against the Roma minority.^[5] Vosganian is also a member of the Rost Association, a Christian right-wing organisation, where he publishes articles in the Rost Magazine. The publication has often made homophobic and anti-Roma comments, and was described by Evenimentul Zilei, Romania's largest newspaper, as being "marked by the ideals of Romanian interbellum legionarism" (referring to the fascist ideology of an ultra-nationalist interwar Romanian party, the Iron Guard).^[6]

Vosganian is a significant supporter of the movement for unification of Romania and Moldova, believing that as long as the two countries (Romania and the Republic of Moldova) remain separate, "the Romanian people will be the last people to bear the shame of being divided by an artificial frontier." He has also described himself as an "incurable unionist".^[7] In fact, in 1996, he provoked controversy when stating that he does not recognise the Republic of Moldova as an independent state.^[5]

[edit] References

• Personal file at the National Liberal Party website
• CV at Varujan Vosganian's site
• "Varujan Vosganian, comisar european", in Evenimentul Zilei, 25 October 2006

[edit] Notes

1. ^ "Vosganian a fost informator al Securităţii" ("Vosganian Was a Securitate Informer"), Jurnalul Naţional, 27 October 2006.
2. ^ EUobserver.com "Romanian nominee for EU commission job sparks questions"
3. ^ Romanian nominee withdraws candidacy for EU Commission, International Herald Tribune, 28 October 2006
4. ^ "Varujan Vosganian, validat ministru cu o majoritate zdrobitoare", Adevărul, 13 December 2006
5. ^ ^{a b} (Romanian) Vosganian a dat explicaţii lui Barroso despre legăturile cu Vântu şi trecutul său politic extremist în UFD (Vosganian gave Barroso explanations about his links with Vântu and his extremist political past with the UFD), Gândul, 28 October 2005
6. ^ (Romanian) Florin Ciornei and Clarice Dinu, Crescut de Securitate, hranit de Vintu, Evenimentul Zilei, 28 October 2005
7. ^ Şedinţa Senatului din 10 aprilie 2006, (Senate meeting of 10 April 2006), Senate of Romania

[edit] External links

• Varujan Vosganian - official site