Romanian PM apologizes for statements about German MEP Elmar Brok

Romanian prime-minister Victor Ponta has apologized, over the phone, for his statements about the German member of the European Parliament Elmar Brock, whom he accused of being Nazi-minded, reports local B1 TV, quoting the spokesman of the European Parliament’s president Martin Schulz. According to the Romanian TV station,Martin Schulz called both Victor Ponta and Elmar Brok to “mediate their reconciliation”. The Romanian prime-minister later confirmed for local news agency Mediafax that he had a talk with Martin Schultz: “I understood and I have all the confidence in what Mr Schulz told me, that Elmar Brok’s statement was either misunderstood or wrongly translated by the Romanian media and that he didn’t refer to fingerprinting all Romanians in Germany”. As a result, Victor Ponta stated that his reaction was “unfortunate” and he regrets using those words if the situation didn’t exist. The German member of the European Parliament Elmar Brok recentlyproposed fingerprinting all Eastern European immigrants who come to Germany to access welfare, just before sending them back home, to prevent them from returning. In return, Romanian Victor Ponta said Brok is a demagogue politician, irresponsible, populist, and Nazi – minded. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (photo source: gov.ro)