FC Steaua București | Steaua | Stadionul Steaua | Vocea României | The ''Yellow Wolves'' during the 2012–13 Cupa României | 2010–11 FC Steaua București season |
In the last days of his President mandate, he awarded the National Order Steaua României (rank of ceremonial knighthood) to the ultra-nationalist controversial politician Corneliu Vadim Tudor, a gesture which drew criticism in the press and prompted Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, fifteen Radio Free Europe journalists, Timișoara mayor Gheorghe Ciuhandu, song writer Alexandru Andrieș, and historian Randolph Braham to return their Romanian honours in protest.