Basescu said in an interview for newspaper Adevarul he continues to support mining but the project could have been given green light by government decision. The head of state said the government was cowardly to promote a bill that the project will now have to be cleared by the Parliament.
Basescu added he does not rule out the possibility of calling a nationwide referendum on the gold mining issue at the same time as elections for the European Parliament in 2014.
Thousands of people in Bucharest and across the country protested late Sunday over the Rosia Montana project.
The gold mining project, which has been on and off for the past 14 years because of environmental concerns entailed by cyanide mining, has been given green light by the government last week and is pending debates in Parliament.
According to a draft agreement between the government and Canada’s Gabriel Resources, which holds 80.69% in the joint-venture developing the project, Gabriel may open the gold mine in 2016.