A list containing the names of important politicians promoted to various army ranks by former Defence Minister Gabriel Oprea (UNPR) was presented during a television show on Antena 3. The list includes the names of politicians, former ministers, mayors, presidents and journalists that are PDL members or PDL-linked. Thus, Sorin Blejnar, former President of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF), is a Colonel, just like PDL MP Cristian Boureanu, Suceava County Council President Gheorghe Flutur (PDL), journalist Robert Turcescu, former Prime Minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu (PDL), former District 3 Mayor Liviu Negoita and former District 6 Mayor Cristian Poteras.Contacted by phone, acting Defence Minister Corneliu Dobritoiu stated that former Defence Minister Gabriel Oprea “is to blame for these illegal promotions in military rank.” According to the army’s statute, during peace time warrant officers and retired NCOs can be promoted to the next rank depending on the armed forces’ needs after they spent the minimum required period in their current ranks, provided they had a dignified behavior, they obtained good and very good results during their drafting and they were proposed to be cited for outstanding work. Apart from that, in order to be promoted to colonel and commodore, retired officers have to graduate an institution of tertiary military education. At the same time, there is no legal justification to promote the aforementioned retired officers. Being promoted 5-6 ranks at a time is something completely uncharacteristic of the Romanian military system.Journalist Robert Turcescu vehemently denied the information, saying he didn’t even carried the military service, denying also being a democrat-liberal party member. ‘I am not a PDL member, I am not a Colonel! Shoot yourselves in the head!’ he told the Antena 3 journalists.
