he isn't completely ethnic romanian though. his family originated in trieste. he has albanian and italian roots.
This is what Wiki says:
According to Ponta, his family, originally called Ponte, originated in Trieste, and reached Transylvania around the turn of the 20th century, in order to help build a road from Pecica to Nădlac commissioned by the Austro-Hungarian authorities.[2] Meanwhile, he has also claimed ancestry in the Albanian village of Moscopole,[3] and this has been described as Aromanian descent on the maternal side.[4]
So, the Italian part is perhaps a quarter, at the most one half?
I don't know about the Albanian side.
Be all that as it may, he doesn't at all look like a typical person from Trieste. A lot of them have so much Slavic in them that it's doubtful, imo, whether they're really "Italian" at all in terms of "ethnicity".
The eyes, and particularly the nose, are "off". He's also too dark for someone from Trieste or Friuli-Venezia-Giulia in general. Even from old pictures where everyone looks darker you can see that.
The people of Trieste:
Giovanni Martilovich
Alida Valli-my father thought she was gorgeous.
Lidia Bastianich, born Matticchio. Maybe the face shape, what you can discern if you ignore the added weight, chin, a bit of a flatter nose? Perhaps that's the Slavic influence?
Her son Joe...from Fordham prep
To restauranteur...