Gheorghe Flutur (born 8 July 1960 in

Botoșana Botoșana () is a commune located in Suceava County, Bukovina, northeastern Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north an ...

Suceava County Suceava County () is a county (') of Romania. Most of its territory lies in the southern part of the Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Bukovina, while the remainder forms part of Western Moldavia proper. The county seat and the ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

) is a Romanian politician, member of the National Liberal Party (PNL). He was also a member of the

Liberal Democratic Party Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

(PLD) as vice-president, since December 2006 until December 2007, then a member of the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) until eventually returning to the PNL. Between December 2004 and November 2006, Flutur was the

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

in the Tăriceanu government (as a PNL member). Between 2 and 10 April 2022, Flutur served as

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad range of sk ...

/ad interim president of the PNL, after the resignation of

Florin Cîțu Florin Vasile Cîțu (; born 1 April 1972) is a Romanian politician who served as Prime Minister of Romania between December 2020 and November 2021 (acting/ad interim between October and November 2021). Sometimes labeled as Romania's first liber ...

, until the election of

Nicolae Ciucă Nicolae Ionel Ciucă (; born 22 September 1967) is a Romanian politician and retired general of the Romanian Land Forces. Ideologically a conservative, he served as Prime Minister of Romania between 25 November 2021 and 12 June 2023 after receiv ...

Homophobic comments

Flutur generated controversy in June 2007 when, as the vice-president of the Liberal Democrats, he was asked how he would react if a party colleague of his was gay. Flutur replied by stating that, "We haven't thought about this but, personally, I would firmly be one who would support colder relations with this person. In this way, Christian morality must be the one that we should follow." In a ''

Cotidianul The logo used between 2003 and 2007 ''Cotidianul'' (meaning ''The Daily'' in English) is a Romanian-language newspaper published in Bucharest, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern E ...

'' editorial published in reaction to Flutur's remark, Costi Rogozanu accused the politician of "fundamental hypocrisy" and homophobic

populism Populism is a essentially contested concept, contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the "common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently a ...

. In June 2007, during Bucharest's annual

GayFest Bucharest Pride, known previously as GayFest, is the annual festival dedicated to LGBT rights in Romania, taking place in Bucharest for nearly a week. It first took place in 2004 and now occurs in May–June of each year, culminating with the Marc ...

, Flutur also stated in a TV interview that he has "a poor opinion" of

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

people, and that he disapproves of the liberties they have obtained. The

National Council for Combating Discrimination The National Council for Combating Discrimination (, or CNCD) is an agency of the Romanian government, established in 2001 and responsible for applying Romanian and European Union anti-discrimination laws and managing the National Anti-Discrimina ...

, Romania's equality body, condemned Flutur's "homophobic discourse and inappropriate language".

2010 floods

During July 2010, Gheorghe Flutur, then president of

Council, told the

Mediafax Mediafax () is a Romanian media company headquartered in Bucharest and founded in 1991 as the first undertaking of the MediaPro Group. Its lines of business include news, photography, and business information services. The company's ''Mediafax Bu ...

news agency that his region was one of the worst hit in the country in the morning of the 29th as he coordinated local

relief work Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. The primary objective of humanitarian a ...

in his flood-affected county.

Notes

People from Suceava County Democratic Liberal Party (Romania) politicians National Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Ministers of agriculture of Romania Members of the Senate of Romania Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church 1960 births Living people {{Romania-politician-stub