Lasconi to the president: “You are not the master of the plantation”

At his press conference on Tuesday evening, Nicușor Dan announced that he would not allow investigative journalist Ovidiu Vanghele into the Cotroceni Palace for the remainder of his term. On Wednesday, Elena Lasconi, former president of USR and former presidential candidate, gave the head of state a thorough dressing-down.

“Every office is temporary. Being elected mayor or president doesn't make you the master of the plantation”

she wrote.

According to her, it is not journalists' job to like politicians, nor are they obliged to ask only comfortable questions, and they certainly don't have to kiss anyone's hand — but elected leaders must listen to the people and do their job. She acknowledged that the press also makes mistakes and sometimes overreaches, but said this is no reason to strip journalists of their right to ask questions.

“Democracy must be defended even when we don't like it. Especially then”

she wrote at the end of her post. In her view, public institutions are not anyone's private property, and she also pointed out that Dan had once promised transparency under the slogan of an “honest Romania.”

The incident occurred on Tuesday evening, at the end of Dan's press conference. During the roughly two-and-a-half-hour event, the last question was asked by Vanghele, a journalist with the Center for Media Investigations (Centrul de Investigații Media). He asked why Chief Prosecutor Cristina Chiriac, in the prosecutors' section of the Superior Council of Magistracy, voted against having the Judicial Inspection investigate a possible influence-peddling case. Dan did not answer; instead, he said he had previously ordered that Vanghele no longer be allowed at his press conferences because of the journalist's past insults, but that his staff had not complied. “My colleagues took pity on him and overlooked my instruction,” he said, then turned to the journalist:

“You will not come again, and you will not ask any more questions during this term.”

Vanghele later said only that what bothered him was not getting an answer. As for how he had offended the president, that is revealed, according to reports cited by Mediafax, in posts he wrote on social media, in which he called Dan a “good-for-nothing,” “trash” and “wretch.” The twist in the story is that Vanghele had actually supported Dan during the campaign, and in May 2025 attended the reception following the president's inauguration.

The ban sparked widespread outrage. Wednesday's statement by the Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) was signed by a further 57 civil society organizations and newsrooms. According to the statement, the head of state violated Articles 30 and 31 of the Constitution, which guarantee freedom of expression and the right to information, and the signatories say this is an unprecedented abuse since 1989. Under Law 544/2001 on public access to information, a journalist's accreditation can only be denied or revoked if they obstruct the institution's work, not because of what they write in their articles. The signatories demand that the president reverse his decision, that the presidential office declare that it has no blacklist of unwanted journalists, and that it sit down with the press as soon as possible to discuss how to work together. Investigative journalist Emilia Șercan noted that not even Ion Iliescu ever banned a journalist. Dominic Fritz, the president of USR, said press freedom is the foundation of democracy, while actor-musician Tudor Chirilă, who had supported Dan at the time, wrote that the president had brought shame on the “honest Romania.”

Ugar