| Radu Ştefan Mazăre | |
|---|---|
| Radu Mazare surfing | |
| Mayor of Constanţa | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office June 2000 |
|
| Preceded by | Gheorghe Mihăeşi |
| Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania for Constanţa County |
|
| In office November 27, 1996 – June 27, 2000 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 5, 1968 Bucureşti |
| Nationality | Romanian |
| Political party | Democratic Party (1995-1997) Independent (1997-2003) Social Democratic Party (since 2003) |
| Alma mater | Merchant Marine Institute, Constanţa |
| Profession | Electronic engineer |
| Website | http://www.radumazare.ro/ |
Radu Ştefan Mazăre (born July 5, 1968 ) is a Romanian politician. He served two terms as Mayor of Constanţa, beginning his career as an independent, but eventually becoming a Social Democratic Party (PSD) member. He was reelected in June 2008.
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He is a graduate of the Institute of Nautical Sciences (Electromechanics department) in Constanța, class of 1991.[1]
Mazăre founded the Telegraf newspaper, the local Neptun TV channel and was a shareholder of the Conpress Holding. He joined the Democratic Party (PD) and was elected to the Romanian Chamber of Deputies in 1996. He later resigned due to "differences between electoral promises and [the] realities of government".
He is considered one of the top 300 richest people in Romania and was accused of being a Social Democratic Party (PSD) local baron. He controls a sizable chunk of the Romanian media, primarily newspapers and television. He is also known for having his name written on every project where the municipality was involved, such as on every bus of the public transportation system of Constanţa.
Another controversial event took place in July 2009 when, during a fashion show, Radu Mazăre participated in the show wearing a Nazi Wehrmacht uniform, together with his son, who was also wearing Nazi uniform. He explained that he "always liked this uniform, and admired the rigorous organization of the German army".[2] According to Mazare, "I checked it before I put it on but the swastika was very small and I didn't see it".[3] Two days later he issued a public apology to Jewish organisations, declaring that by wearing the uniform he wanted to pay homage to Claus von Stauffenberg, a leading member of the failed plot to kill Adolf Hitler during World War II.[4]