Elena Udrea

Elena Gabriela Udrea (; born 26 December 1973) is a Romanian politician. An independent who held office while in the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) and then the People's Movement Party (PMP), she was a member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies from 2008 to 2016. In successive Emil Boc cabinets, she served as Tourism Minister from 2008 to 2009 and as Regional Development and Tourism Minister from 2009 to 2012. Sentenced to six years in prison for corruption offenses, she sought asylum in Costa Rica in 2018. The following year, she gave up the asylum claim and returned to Romania.

Biography

Education and legal career

Udrea was born in Buzău and completed secondary studies at the city's Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu National College."Despre mine" ("About Me")
, retrieved 25 February 2009 She then attended the faculty of Law and Public Administration at Bucharest's Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University, graduating in 1996.

In 2005, Udrea began studies at the Carol I National Defence University, receiving a master's degree in Military Science in 2007. She began work on a doctorate in the same field, but abandoned the endeavor in 2012. Udrea worked as a lawyer in Bucharest from 1997 to February 2005, resuming the practice of law that December.Curriculum Vitae
, retrieved 25 February 2009 At Dimitrie Cantemir, she began teaching political systems in autumn 2007,
''Cotidianul'', 10 December 2007, retrieved 25 February 2009 and she has authored or co-authored five works on geopolitics and globalisation. Some of her activities as a lawyer have drawn criticism from the non-governmental Political Investigation Group: for instance, it has questioned the fact that while an opposition city councillor in 2004, she represented the government-run Department for State Heritage Administration (RA-APPS), at one point receiving public contracts worth 710 million lei during a single week.

Political career

Udrea began her political activity in 2002 as a legal adviser to the Social Democratic Party (PSD). She joined the National Liberal Party (PNL) that year, becoming a Bucharest city councillor in June 2004, during the period of the Justice and Truth Alliance. She held that office until the following February, and during that time was president of the council's committee on law and discipline. In October 2005 she resigned from the PNL, joining the Democratic Party (PD; precursor to today's PD-L) in February 2006. In December, she was elected the party's executive secretary, becoming a vice-president of the PD-L a year later. In these capacities, she promoted the party and spoke approvingly of the president, for instance ahead of the 2008 local election.

From February to November 2005, while away from her law practice, Udrea was a state counsellor and head of the Presidential Chancellery under President Traian Băsescu. Among her roles were summarizing secret documents addressed to the Presidency, approving lists of invitees to Cotroceni Palace and representing the Presidency at various events. During this period, she launched a series of attacks on Prime Minister Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, who had fallen out of favour with Băsescu; these centred on Tăriceanu's opposition to having early elections. She also drew notice for speaking during a televised interview about a "President of Norway" (which is a monarchy) and of that country as a member of the European Union (which it is not). Udrea resigned her post after eight months, citing the "profoundly unjust" attacks on her and others involved in Băsescu's anti-corruption drive, and her desire not to become a liability for her boss. These controversies centred around the RA-APPS affair and alleged links she and her husband had to the parking firm Dalli, headed by what Băsescu had termed the "personal mafia" of his 2004 election rival Adrian Năstase. Moreover, she was characterised as "the blonde from Golden Blitz"—a Cotroceni restaurant once frequented by Băsescu and the owners of which had business ties to Udrea's husband—having been photographed there with President-elect Băsescu in 2004. (Despite rumours to the contrary, she stated in an interview that her relationship with the President was "strictly professional".) Mircea Marian
"Blonda de la Cotroceni nu se îngrijorează că preşedintele Norvegiei nu ne vrea in UE" ("The Cotroceni Blonde Isn't Worried that the Norwegian President Doesn't Want Us in the EU")
''Adevărul'', 20 April 2005, retrieved 25 February 2009 Following her resignation, Udrea continued to act as a presidential surrogate, soon afterwards accusing the prime minister of placing a call to a prosecutor on behalf of his friend and business partner Dinu Patriciu on the day of Patriciu's arrest. She returned to this theme in 2007, when she alleged that Tăriceanu had written the president a note soliciting the latter's intervention in the case.

At the 2008 legislative election, Udrea won 43.4% of the vote in her district, enough to gain a seat in Parliament for Bucharest once redistribution took place. Three days after the legislative session opened, she was sworn into the new office of Tourism Minister. All government employees on two floors of the Victoria Palace were evicted in order to make room for the new ministry. As minister, her goals included raising tourism's share of Romania's GDP from 3.5% in 2008 to 10% by 2012, and a renewed focus on the country's spa towns. Roxana Grigorean
"Elena Udrea spune că va face tot posibilul ca turismul să aducă 20 mld. euro la PIB în 2012" ("Elena Udrea Says She Will Do Everything Possible for Tourism to Contribute 20 Billion Euros to the GDP in 2012")
''Ziarul Financiar'', 20 February 2009, retrieved 26 February 2009 During the summer of 2009, a parliamentary committee headed by Ludovic Orban of the opposition National Liberal Party (PNL) investigated alleged abuses at the ministry, including documents signed in Udrea's name by her subordinates, a flawed contracting process, the spending of unallocated funds, and the disbursement of money to town halls based on political rather than tourist-potential criteria. In September, the committee's report recommended her dismissal and criminal charges for abuse of office, conflict of interest and negligence; she refused to resign and denounced the "fabricated accusations".

That October, she became interim Environment Minister following the resignation of her PSD cabinet colleagues, including Nicolae Nemirschi, the previous occupant of that ministry. In December, a new cabinet, also led by Boc, came into office; there, Udrea held the Regional Development and Tourism portfolio. Along with the rest of the cabinet, she resigned in February 2012 amid anti-government protests. In July 2010, following the departure of Liviu Negoiţă, she became interim head of the Bucharest PD-L chapter, assuming the post on a permanent basis later that year when she was the only candidate to fill it, and vowing in her acceptance speech to "rid" the capital of independent Mayor Sorin Oprescu. She resigned from this position in the wake of the 2012 local election that saw the PD-L perform poorly in Bucharest, including Oprescu's winning a new term with a majority of votes cast. Shortly thereafter, she also quit her position as PD-L vice-president.

For the 2012 election, Udrea ran in a seat based in the city of Roman. Although placing second, she won another term through redistribution. In March 2013, Udrea ran for the PD-L leadership but was defeated by incumbent Vasile Blaga on a 51-44 margin. In January 2014, Udrea, whom Blaga was preparing to expel from the PD-L, resigned from the party following disagreements with his leadership record, and joined the People's Movement Party (PMP). That June, she was elected PMP president, defeating Daniel Funeriu

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