Nicolae-Bogdănel Ștefănuță or Nicu Ștefănuță (born 3 January 1982) is a progressive Romanian politician who has been serving as a
Member of the European Parliament
A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...
since 2019.
Political career
In 2007, Ștefănuță was a member of the Democratic Party (PD) and assistant to
Monica Iacob Ridzi
Monica Maria Iacob Ridzi (born 30 June 1977 in Petroșani) is a Romanian politician. She was the head of the youth wing of the Democratic Liberal Party, and a representative in the Chamber of Deputies of Romania since 2008. She is a former member ...
. He was appointed to head the new department of European politics and affairs of the
Sibiu
Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...
branch of PD.
As a member of
USR PLUS
USR PLUS was a Romanian progressive, liberal, and centrist political alliance active between 2019 and 2021. Established on 2 February 2019 solely as an electoral alliance between the political parties Save Romania Union (USR) and the Freedom, ...
, Ștefănuță was elected as MEP in 2019. In parliament, he serves on the
Committee on Budgets The Committee on Budgets (BUDG) is a committee of the European Parliament. It has 41 members plus 39 substitute members. The committee's current chair is Jean Arthuis, who has held this position since 7 July 2014.Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. In 2020, he also joined the Special Committee on Beating Cancer. Ștefănuță has been serving as the parliament’s lead rapporteur on the
budget of the European Union
The budget of the European Union ( The Union’s annual budget) is used to finance EU funding programmes (such as the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund, Horizon Europe, or Erasmus+) and other expenditure at the European ...
for 2023.
In addition to his committee assignments, Ștefănuță is part of the parliament's delegation for relations with the United States. He co-chairs the informal MEP Interest Group on
Antimicrobial Resistance
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR or AR) occurs when microbes evolve mechanisms that protect them from antimicrobials, which are drugs used to treat infections. This resistance affects all classes of microbes, including bacteria (antibiotic resista ...
(AMR). He is also a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, the
European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights
The European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights is an intergroup of the European Parliament's legislators which focuses on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons both inside and outside the European Uni ...
, the European Parliament Intergroup on Children’s Rights and the European Parliament Intergroup on Traditional Minorities, National Communities and Languages.
In March 2023, Ștefănuță left the
Save Romania Union
The Save Romania Union (, USR) is a Liberalism, liberal List of political parties in Romania, political party in Romania. It is the fourth-largest party in the Parliament of Romania, holding 40 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (Romania), Chamber ...
party and the
Renew Europe
Renew Europe (or simply Renew) is a liberal, centrist to centre-right, pro-European political group of the European Parliament founded for the ninth European Parliament term. The group is the successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Dem ...
parliamentary group for the
Greens–European Free Alliance
The Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) is a political group of the European Parliament composed primarily of Green politics, green political parties.
The group consists of European Green Party (EGP), part of the European Free Allianc ...
as an independent MEP.
After the 2024 European elections, Ștefănuță has become the fourth independent in Romanian history to get a mandate. He got 3.04% of votes, which is above the 3% needed to get in as an independent.
Political positions
In 2021, Ștefănuță joined seven other Romanian MEPs in co-signing a letter to
Ursula von der Leyen
Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; ; born 8 October 1958) is a German politician, serving as president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding position ...
and
Maroš Šefčovič
Maroš Šefčovič (; born 24 July 1966) is a Slovak diplomat and politician serving as European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security; Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency (2024–2029) in the Von der Leyen Commission II. Prior t ...
in which they call on the European Commission to stop the United Kingdom from holding EU nationals in immigration removal centers.
Ștefănuță is a strong supporter of
Palestine
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...
called the gendarmes to evacuate the pro-Palestine protesters occupying its territory, Ștefănuță compared this event with the invitation of miners by President
Ion Iliescu
Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer who served as the second president of Romania from 1989 until 1996 and from 2000 until 2004. Between 1996 and 2000 and also from 2004 to 2008, the year in which he retired, ...
in 1990, which resulted in the infamous
June 1990 Mineriad
The June 1990 Mineriad was the suppression of anti- National Salvation Front (FSN) rioting in Bucharest, Romania by the physical intervention of groups of industrial workers as well as coal miners from the Jiu Valley, brought to Bucharest by the ...