Romanian ruling party leader apologizes for agriculture minister’s statement

Romania’s ruling party leader Liviu Dragnea apologized to the Jewish community on behalf of his party and of the ruling coalition for the agriculture minister’s Auschwitz analogy. Agriculture minister Petre Daea said in a live TV show on Wednesday evening that the pig culling to stop the spread of the swine fever at farms in Romania was “like Auschwitz”. “Minister Daea’s statement is a gaffe. I regret that a minister of the PSD-ALDE cabinet made such a statement, although I’m convinced that he didn’t have the slightest intention to offend the Jewish people,” Dragnea wrote on his Facebook page. He also asked the agriculture minister to be more careful on the way he expresses his thoughts and to stop using parallels that may be considered offensive. He added that the Social Democratic Party (PSD) will continue to support the progress in studying the Holocaust and educating the public about it. “In my name, and in the names of PSD and the ruling coalition, I apologize to the Jewish community for minister Daea’s statements,” Dragnea ended his message. Romanian opposition reacts to recent minister gaffe: “No more fools in public office!” editor@romania-insider.com