Former Romanian PMs at Beijing military parade attended by Putin, Kim Jong Un

Former Romanian prime ministers Viorica Dăncilă and Adrian Năstase have been invited to the military parade organized by Chinese president Xi Jinping in Beijing to mark the end of World War II, Euronews reported.

They are featured in a group photo alongside the Chinese president, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un.

Viorica Dăncilă is a former leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and served as PM from January 2018 to November 2019. A former president of the Parliament's Chamber of Deputies and Foreign Affairs minister, Adrian Năstase headed the Romanian Government between 2000 and 2004, while he was also the president of the PSD.

In a post on his blog, Năstase explained he was in Beijing as a former dignitary to take part in "commemorating the 80th anniversary of China's victory over Japan and fascism in World War II." The post also mentions that he had a talk with deputy minister Sun Haiyan "regarding sensitive issues of international politics, including the war in Ukraine and the relationship between China, Russia, and India."

In a reaction quoted by News.ro, Foreign Affairs minister Oana Ţoiu said "Romania is not and cannot be represented by politicians who are honored to sit in a photo next to Putin today." She also said the invitation "indicates an intention to show influence over Romania, but Putin only managed to show that their ties are linked to the past and not to the future of Romania."

Update (September 4): In a social media post, the Embassy of China in Romania has thanked former prime ministers Dăncilă and Năstase for attending the event in Beijing.

Commenting after the media reports of their participation, Năstase stressed that the attended as a private person. In her turn, Dăncilă told Gândul that "she doesn't draft the guest list of the president of the People's Republic of China" and argued that communicating with other heads of state "brings development."

Other guests at the event included the president of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, Slovakia’s PM Robert Fico, leaders from Southeast Asia such as King of Cambodia Norodom Sihamoni, Vietnam president Luong Cuong, Malaysia PM Anwar Ibrahim, and the military leader of Myanmar, Min Aung Hlaing.