Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu says the country’s ambassador to the U.S. should be removed after he publicly criticized him during a visit to Washington.
Ciolacu said that Andrei Muraru failed to rise to the occasion and had an “emotional reaction” disqualifying him from being an ambassador, in an interview Tuesday with Antena 3.
He said he believed his Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu would have a discussion with President Klaus Iohannis. The president is responsible for naming and recalling ambassadors.
„I haven’t had any discussions with the ambassador…. I came here accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs; she is the top representative of the Romanian diplomacy,” he said, explaining why he had not invited the diplomat to meetings with top U.S. officials.
Ciolacu said, personally, he would have recalled the ambassador after he publicly rebuked him during his Washington high-level visit.
„I assume that the minister (Odobescu) will have the discussions with the President of Romania,” Ciolacu said.
Ciolacu met Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during his three-day visit to Washington.
It is customary when a prime minister or another high-ranking official is on a state visit abroad to be accompanied to official meetings by the resident ambassador.
However, instead of a private discussion, Muraru’s public criticism was deemed to be embarrassing and undiplomatic. Ciolacu was the first Romanian prime minister to visit Washington since 2016.
The ambassador publicly chided Ciolacu for not thinking it was “necessary” for embassy representatives to join political meetings while he was in the U.S.
