Péter Eckstein-Kovács

[4] In January 2009, President Traian Băsescu named Eckstein to the newly created post of Presidential adviser for minorities, an office the creation of which the UDMR had called for since 1990.

[5] In 2011, following the retirement of Béla Markó, he was one of three candidates who ran to become leader of the UDMR, finishing in second place with 22% of the vote and losing to Hunor Kelemen.

[6] He resigned his post of adviser that September, citing his opposition to the Roşia Montană Project, an endeavor strongly backed by Băsescu.

He also sat on that committee from 2000 to 2004 and headed it from 2004 to March 2008,[2] when he resigned as chairman because his UDMR colleagues did not vote for National Integrity Agency legislation as sponsored by the government.

[1] Controversially, his liberal stance extends to advocating registered partnerships allowing unmarried same-sex and opposite-sex couples a number of rights, a step for which he publicly announced his support in February 2008.