Romania’s ambassador to Italy has appealed to the more than one million Romanians there to stop spreading conspiracy theories and fake news about the Covid-19 vaccine.
George Bologan made his comments amid protests in several Italian cities over the country’s new coronavirus workplace health pass requirement.
He admonished Romanians who waved the Romanian flag at the protests, some of which have turned violent.
Italy’s Green Pass was rolled out in August. It provides proof that someone has either been vaccinated against the virus, has recovered from the disease in the last six months or has tested negative for the disease in recent days.
The ambassador said the measure was “to protect the population.” His comments were made at a videoconference on Wednesday with Romanian press and other groups, Rotalianul.com reported.
”What right do we Romanians who are guests in this country to question and contest the laws of this state?” he asked. Most Romanians living in Italy are residents and don’t have citizenship.
“The now unpopulated land of this people weeps,” he said, decrying hundreds who had died in the last week after catching the virus.
There are officially some 1,137 million Romanians in Italy, many of them working as medics, carers and in other industries.
“The number of Romanians workers who are not vaccinated remains high, False information about the virus is being spread around the community and picked up by many (Romanian) nationals,” the ambassador said.
He said there were a number of Romanian workers who had false Covid-19 vaccine certificates.
Starting last Friday, Green Passes are mandatory in all workplaces in Italy, even for those who are self-employed.
Employees refusing to comply with the scheme risk fines of up to 1,500 euros.
