[1][2] He was born in Sighișoara to Ion and Viorica Mitrea and, after living in Făgăraș and Brașov, moved to Bucharest, where he completed secondary studies at the city's Dr. Petru Groza High School.
[6] As minister, his achievements included modernising several rail stations, continuing work on the A2 motorway, rebuilding the northern jetty of the Port of Constanța, and completing Bucharest apartment blocks that had been left unfinished since 1989.
[7] In April 2008, the National Anticorruption Directorate charged him with receiving bribes, instigating forgery in official documents, and using forgery as minister,[8] and Mitrea resigned his Chamber seat that September after his colleagues (despite his request to the contrary) stopped the indictment (and a similar one for Năstase) from moving forward on grounds of parliamentary immunity; he wished to fight the charges and clear his name.
[11] In October 2014, Mitrea received a two-year prison sentence in a corruption case involving construction at his mother's house; in response, he vowed to appeal.
[15] Ideologically, Mitrea is an avowed leftist but also an anti-communist, and he has worked to distance the PSD from its image as a successor to the Romanian Communist Party.