Diplomatic gaffe: Romanian FM gives German counterpart a brochure with Germany's flag over France

Romania’s Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu handed Germany’s counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier a brochure celebrating 135 of diplomatic relations between the two countries, during Steinmeier’s visit to Bucharest, on March 9, 2015. But one mistake on the cover of the brochure soon became a diplomatic gaffe, as the German flag is placed over the unmistakable hexagonal shape of France, reporters of the Romanian Adevarul newspaper observed. State-owned news agency Agerpres edited the brochure. “We specify that the Romanian Foreign Ministry got the correct electronic version of the booklet for information. The mistake in the printed version was due to a technical error of Agerpres, which we take on and for which we apologize both to the Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry and the German Foreign Affairs Ministry,” Agerpres said in a press statement. Germany’s foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Romania on Monday, March 9. He met with President Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Victor Ponta, and foreign affairs minister Bogdan Aurescu to talk about cooperation between the two countries. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: screen-shot from Foreign Ministry video)