Romanian nationalist lawmaker Anamarie Gavrila on Tuesday told accredited journalists that she couldn’t wait to see the back of them.
Journalists who are accredited to cover parliamentary issues approached Ms Gavrila to ask her about alleged threats to a lawmaker who had resigned from the Party of Youth (POT) she is head of.
“You are on the verge of extinction. You are an endangered species. I can’t wait to see you GONE”, she replied, turning her back on reporters and entering her office.
Mrs Gavrilă, 41, who briefly stood for president, is known for her antipathy to the media.
She became a figure of ridicule after she called the police to protest that journalists were waiting outside her office in parliament seeking her reaction to a story.
When news leaked that she planned to withdraw from the presidential race to make way for colleague George Simion (who overwhelmingly won the first round), journalists tried to get a reaction from her.
However, she apparently took fright and called police to protect her from reporters. They arrived at her office and took her statement.
Police concluded that the journalists had the legal right to ask her questions and she was given a warning for wasting police time.
Press freedoms have steadily declined in Romania in recent months. On Monday, the World Press Freedom Index ranked Romania in 55th place down from 49th last year.
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