Radu Ştefan Mazăre is a Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

n politician. He served two terms as Mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Constanţa

Constanta

Constanța is the oldest extant city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of Constanța County and the largest city in the region....

, beginning his career as an independent, but eventually becoming a Social Democratic Party

Social Democratic Party (Romania)

The Social Democratic Party is the major social-democratic political party in Romania. It was formed in 1992, after the post-communist National Salvation Front broke apart. It adopted its present name after a merger with a minor social-democratic party in 2001. Since its formation, it has always...

 (PSD) member. He was reelected in June 2008.

Education

He is a graduate of the Institute of Nautical Sciences (Electromechanics department) in Constanța, class of 1991.

Career

Mazăre founded the Telegraf newspaper, the local Neptun TV channel and was a shareholder of the Conpress Holding. He joined the Democratic Party (PD) and was elected to the Romanian Chamber of Deputies in 1996. He later resigned due to "differences between electoral promises and [the] realities of government".

Controversies

He is considered one of the top 300 richest people in Romania and was accused of being a Social Democratic Party (PSD) local baron. He controls a sizable chunk of the Romanian media, primarily newspapers and television. He is also known for having his name written on every project where the municipality was involved, such as on every bus of the public transportation system of Constanţa.

Another controversial event took place in July 2009 when, during a fashion show, Radu Mazăre participated in the show wearing a Nazi Wehrmacht uniform, together with his son, who was also wearing Nazi uniform. He explained that he "always liked this uniform, and admired the rigorous organization of the German army". According to Mazare, "I checked it before I put it on but the swastika was very small and I didn't see it". Two days later he issued a public apology to Jewish organisations, declaring that by wearing the uniform he wanted to pay homage to Claus von Stauffenberg

Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg

Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg commonly referred to as Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was a German army officer and Catholic aristocrat who was one of the leading members of the failed 20 July plot of 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler and remove the Nazi Party from...

, a leading member of the failed plot to kill Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Footnotes