The Nicușor Dan–Ursula von der Leyen appearance at Cotroceni used a format of only two agreed questions, according to the president’s communication team. At a joint event on Black Sea security and defence investment, that constraint warrants a clearer public account of the rules governing press access and questioning.
HotNews reported that the joint press statements took place on Monday. The question format became contentious after Sorin Pâslaru, editor-in-chief of Ziarul Financiar, wrote that his outlet asked von der Leyen a question without a microphone after she had heard it and it had been shown to her in writing. In the account quoted by HotNews, she smiled and did not address it, while Nicușor Dan stressed that only two questions had been agreed.
The reported fact is the two-question arrangement, attributed to the presidential team. Pâslaru’s assertion that questions had been pre-arranged and that von der Leyen read an answer from a sheet is his stated account. The supplied material contains no direct response from the Presidency or the European Commission to that criticism.
A time limit or a cap on questions is not, by itself, evidence that journalistic content was controlled. But at a joint appearance by Romania’s president and the European Commission president, two questions leave little room for independent follow-up. The organisers should explain the rules before, or promptly after, such an event: who set them, which outlets could ask questions, and how those questions were selected.
Dan was due to hold his first press conference since the installation of Luca Niculescu’s government on Tuesday evening. That makes the Cotroceni procedure relevant beyond one briefing. Transparency does not require treating an allegation as a settled conclusion; it requires access rules that the public and journalists can inspect.
Sources
- HotNews · Source date: 2026-11-10
Independent editorial content. WUA is not affiliated with any political party. 2026-11-10