A journalist and political activist. He studied philology at Bucharest University, and made his debut in the student press as a sports commentator and music critic. In 1988 he left communist Romania illegally and spent many years as a journalist for the BBC’s Romanian office. Since 2003 he has been publishing his articles in the Romanian press (in papers including Cotidianul, Evenimentul zilei, Revista 22, Idei în Dialog). Since 2009 he has been a member of the European Parliament for the Democratic Liberal Party (PD-L); he is a supporter of the incumbent president, Traian Băsescu.