BUCHAREST, Romania — Romania's Traian Basescu has named Mihai Razvan Ungureanu prime minister, and he is now the likely party candidate for the presidency when Basescu's term expires in 2014, a move that would echo Boris Yeltsin's promotion of Vladimir Putin more than a decade ago.
Since winning parliamentary approval earlier this month, the 43-year-old former foreign minister and intelligence head Ungureanu has restored the mood of the unpopular centrist Democrat Liberal Party before November parliamentary elections.
"[Ungureanu] is seen as the one able to revive the party," a PDL deputy said. "He stands a strong chance of winning the presidency of Romania two years from now."
(Reuters)
