Romania's caretaker Culture Minister, Andras Demeter, handed in his resignation following a public scandal sparked by a recording in which the politician used language perceived as undermining Romania's national interests, BTA reported.
On his official Facebook profile, Demeter announced his resignation and apologized for causing "turmoil and division" in society.
"I apologize to those who feel offended and to those who feel betrayed," he wrote.
Due to the scandal surrounding the recording, the President of the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), Hunor Kelemen, called for Demeter's resignation.
"An audio recording has been released in which the Minister of Culture speaks in a manner unacceptable to the public interest and refers to his Hungarian identity in a way that creates an opportunity to stigmatize our community. The statements in this recording are unacceptable. There is no place in our political community for vulgar and crude language or irresponsible jokes related to Russian interests. Hungarian identity cannot be used to justify unacceptable statements. In this situation, there is only one correct course of action: the Minister's resignation," Kelemen said.
The recording, released by local media, is of a conversation with ministry officials in which Demeter recalls an incident from 2012, when he was questioned by the General Prosecutor's Office regarding a case involving Radio Romania's acquisition of Radio Chisinau. In the recording, Demeter says, "I don't care about the national interest because I’m Hungarian!"
Following the negative reactions to his remarks, Demeter stated that his comments referred to the context of the acquisition of Radio Chisinau and the risk that the station might be bought by Russians, and insisted that he had acted in Romania's interest.
Demeter did not dispute the authenticity of the recording at first, but later, in a written statement, he suggested that it might have been edited or even fabricated.
"I will ask the relevant institutions to verify the authenticity of the recording," the politician stated in a video posted on his official Facebook page.