Romanian TV apologizes after fascist praise

Romanian TV apologizes after fascist praise



Romanian public television has apologized for broadcasting a show in which a journalist praised a World War II Romanian fascist leader as a person of integrity.


In a Thursday statement TVR said the comments had "wounded the feelings" of people affected by "the virulent anti-Semitism and the crimes against humanity which marked a black period" in Romania's history.


Journalist Ion Cristoiu praised Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, who had founded the fascist Iron Guard legion prior to World War II as a person of integrity in a show aired on Nov. 21.


Dozens of Romanian intellectuals criticized Cristoiu and the show's moderator saying they had ignored the fascist and terrorist character of the Iron Guard.


The legionnaires gained notoriety for their vicious anti-Semitism. In 1941, they killed thousands of Jews in Bucharest.