Ex-model daughter of Romania's president wins EU seat

(BUCHAREST) - The daughter of Romania's president is a jet-set queen and an ex-model better known for her blunders and mishaps, but she vowed Monday not to disappoint now she has been elected a Euro-deputy.

"The media portrayed me as an uneducated woman but I showed during this campaign that I was worth more than that," Elena Basescu, the 29-year-old daughter of President Traian Basescu, told RFI radio.

Basescu, who ran as an independent, is bound for Strasbourg after winning 4.22 percent of votes in the European parliamentary elections, held on Sunday in Romania.

Born on April 24, 1980 in Constanta, a resort town on the Black Sea coast, Romania's first daughter took to the catwalk in her youth to show off her slender figure and brunette Barbie doll look.

Late nights clubbing in Bucharest and a turbulent love life ensured she soon became a firm favourite of the Romanian tabloids, earning her the dubious honour of being nicknamed the "Carpathian Paris Hilton".

But she took a major change of course and forced doubters to take her more seriously in 2007 when she entered politics and was elected secretary-general of the youth wing of her father's Liberal Democrat party.

Her election however provoked grumblings within the party and her presence on its list for the European parliamentary election also drew accusations of nepotism, leading her in March to announce her candidacy as an independent.

To those who belittled her qualifications, she showed off her degrees in economics and an internship at the European parliament, adding: "I have chosen to go to Strasbourg on foot, while candidates from the other parties are taking the plane."

Basescu travelled across the country targeting the youth vote in a widely publicised campaign, but media reports talked little of her programme, which focused particularly on protecting children whose parents work abroad.

She was forced to reverse her position in favour of legalising marijuana following a public outcry, but this did not stop her path to Strasbourg.

After gathering some 200,000 votes on Sunday, Basescu announced: "I am very proud of what I have achieved, but it is now time I rejoined the party in which I grew up."

The Liberal Democrats welcomed her with open arms and Basescu has set herself a new goal: a job in the European parliament's important budget and finance committee.