Romanian President Traian Basescu presided on Wednesday a ceremony in which vice-admiral Gheorghe Marin was named the new Chief of Staff of the Romanian Army, a place held so far by General Eugen Badalan, forced to step down as he was targeted by allegations of abuse.

President Basescu said on this occasion that he would not accept political meddling with Army affairs and admitted that this was an atypical handover at the helm of the Romanian military.

“This is a change that was generated by the impression of some politicians that party decisions may be transferred to the leadership of the Army. Army errors during the December 1989 Revolution were possible because a party believed it was the master of the army”, Basescu said.