10 Things You Didn't Know About...
...Elena Basescu, Your New Favorite Parliamentarian

As part of our continuing efforts to introduce you to beautiful women (you're welcome), we'd like you to meet Elena Basescu, the 29-year-old former Romanian model who today is celebrating her election to the European Union Parliament. Here, 10 helpful talking points about the reason behind your newfound interest in Romanian politics…

1. She's been variously described as the "Carpathian Paris Hilton" and the "Paris Hilton of Romania." Translation: Her papa's rich, and she likes to party.

2. Her father is Traian Basescu, who has been the president of Romania since 2004. He was also a Merchant Navy officer. Which we mention because…

3. …Elena's a total Daddy's girl. After breaking up with her boyfriend last December, she said, "I should have listened to my father—he's always right." Frightening words from a woman whose father runs the country.

4. See that bit about the December breakup? She's totally single. (Start here.)

5. And we mean really likes to party: in her first TV interview, she came out in support of legalizing pot.

6. She's also a bit like Sarah Palin (minus the guns)—she's become a YouTube sensation thanks to her verbal gaffes. (A video called "Dumb and Dumber" has been viewed nearly 140,000 times.) Still, her Romanian's better than ours.

7. And her English is passable, too—she attended James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, thus fulfilling the exchange-student fantasies of every man in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

8. She was recently ranked as the 49th-most wanted woman on Chickipedia.com—helpfully described as "the largest wiki-styled database of famous chicks on the planet"—beating out such comely contenders as Eva Longoria, Penelope Cruz and Alessandra Ambrosio.

9. She holds a degree in economics, quite probably making her the best-looking economist in the world. (Sorry, Larry Summers.)

10. In her modeling days, she frequently posed alongside Maseratis and, um, horses. As you can see here…