Senate president says US ambassador contributed to the “distorted presentation of Romanian realities”

The US ambassador to Bucharest Hans Klemm contributed to the “distorted presentation of Romanian realities” in the US, Senate president Calin Popescu Tariceanu, who is also the leader of junior coalition partner ALDE, said at local TV station Digi24.

Tariceanu made the accusation in a wider context in which he was referring to the critics coming from Washington about the rule of law in Romania.

The Senate president also said that Romania’s relations with the US are blocked by the Romanian ambassador to the US, George Maior. He added that the foreign minister is aware of these discontents, especially as he publicly requested the change of ambassador Maior. However, president Klaus Iohannis is the one who could change Romania’s ambassador to the US, and the president “is, in a way, a supporter of this attitude that Maior had, which made a huge disservice to Romania.”

“What we’re talking about erroneous perceptions, the correct or incorrect functioning of justice or the rule of law has been transmitted on the channels we know. I believe that our ambassador to Washington was not alone in these actions, ambassador Klemm also contributed,” Tariceanu said.

The US ambassador Hans Klemm openly criticized some of the many changes the ruling party PSD and the government planed or implemented since early 2017. Moreover, the US State Department has also urged Romania to reconsider changes that would weaken judicial independence and the fight against corruption. But similar warnings and concerns have also been expressed by Romania’s European partners, including representatives of the European Commission and the European Parliament.

(Photo source: Facebook / Calin Popescu Tariceanu)