Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a conservative Romanian politician who served as President of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian Minister of Transport on multiple occasions between 1991 and 2000, and as Mayor of Bucharest from 2000 to 2004. Additionally, he was elected as leader of the Democratic Party (PD) in 2001. During his term as leader of the PD, the party formed the Justice and Truth Alliance (DA) with the National Liberal Party (PNL). Following Theodor Stolojan's withdrawal from the presidential elections in 2004, Băsescu entered the presidential race on behalf of the alliance. After being elected president, he suspended his PD membership; Romanian law does not permit the incumbent president to be a member of a political party. He was subsequently re-elected in 2009. In 2007, during his presidency, Romania acceded to the European Union. He is the only president of Romania to have been suspended by the parliament twice, in 2007 and 2012. A former member of the Romanian Communist Party, he has promoted socially conservative and populist policies during his administration. After ending his presidential term, in 2015, Băsescu joined the People's Movement Party (PMP), of which he became president in 2016, subsequently resigning in 2018. He currently serves as Member of the European Parliament for Romania (since 2019). Early life Traian Băsescu was born in Basarabi (renamed Murfatlar in 2007), near the port city of Constanța, the largest Romanian port on the Black Sea. Băsescu's father, Dumitru (d. 2002), was an army officer. His brother, Mircea (born 1953), was charged with influence peddling (in exchange for €250,000 he promised freedom to his godson Florin Anghel, an underworld member). He was sentenced to four years in prison only after his brother's mandate ended. Băsescu and his wife Maria have two daughters: Ioana (born 1977), a notary, and Elena (born 1980), a Romanian former MEP. Professional career Băsescu graduated from the Naval Institute of Constanța in 1976 and became a merchant marine deck officer at Navrom, the Romanian state-owned shipping company. Between 1981 and 1987, he served as captain on Romanian commercial ships. Throughout his career, questions have been raised about Băsescu's links to the Securitate, the security services of the communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu. However, Băsescu has claimed that his links with the former Securitate were minimal, though some contact was obligatory at the time for