On Thursday, Andronescu said in a TV intervention at Antena 3 news channel that she had been taught that one does not get in cars with strangers.
She was speaking in relation to the case in which a teenage girl is believed to have been murdered in the town of Caracal, southern Romania, last week. The case, in which authorities failed to intervene despite the victim's repeated calls for help, has sparked huge outrage and pressure on the government, the Interior ministry, prosecutors and aother authorities for contributing to a "failed state".
- Andronescu, an influential figure within Dancila's governing Social Democrats (PSD), has been consistently pushed for a top position within the party, eyeing even the presidency of the party earlier this summer, just to be defeated by Dancila.