site.btaFormer NATO Deputy Secretary General Announces Bid for Romania Presidential Elections

In a video message posted on Facebook, former NATO deputy secretary general Mircea Geoana Tuesday announced his bid for the presidential elections in Romania. The announcement comes after Geoana’s withdrawal from his position at NATO on Tuesday, when he was awarded the Order for Meritorious Service, in recognition of his service of the North Atlantic Alliance.

Mircea Geoana was the first Romanian to hold the post of Deputy Secretary General of the Alliance.

Geoana said in the video, "I am running for the presidency because I know we need a real change. I could have promised you a perfect country. To pose as the perfect politician, to tell you that all problems will disappear overnight. But we all know that is not reality. We are not perfect. I am not perfect. But you know what we can do? We can work. Roll up our sleeves and build a better country. Romania does not need perfection, it needs leaders who listen, understand, and act professionally."

On Tuesday, election posters appeared in Bucharest, from which it became clear that Geoana, who is also a former leader of the Social Democratic Party, former president of the Senate of Romania and former foreign minister is entering the presidential race as an independent candidate.  

He ran for the president's office in the 2009 elections, when he lost to centre-right candidate Traian Basescu.

The first round of the presidential elections in Romania will be on November 24 and the possible second, on December 8.