Even as he overcame a weekend referendum seeking to remove him from office, Traian Basescu, Romania’s president, strode into fresh controversy on Saturday after a confrontation with a journalist that allegedly involved racist remarks.

In an incident that underlined critics’ claims that Mr Basescu’s explosive temperament makes him a divisive figure, the populist politician seized a mobile telephone being used by a reporter to record an interview with him as he was shopping with his wife.