Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă’s announcement Sunday that her government would relocate the Romanian embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has drawn the ire of her nation’s president, who blasted Dăncilă for the move, accusing her of being ‘ignorant’ of foreign policy.
President Klaus Iohannis said Sunday that he would not permit Dăncilă’s government to relocate the embassy, telling local media outlets that the decision was his, not the prime minister’s, to make. He also accused Dăncilă of being ‘ignorant’ of foreign affairs.
"The final decision about moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem rests with me. The prime minister shows complete ignorance regarding foreign affairs,” AFP’s Bucharest-based correspondent Ionut Iordachescu reported Iohannis as saying.
Earlier on Sunday, Dăncilă told the annual AIPAC conference in Washington DC that she would move the Romanian embassy to Jerusalem.
"I am pleased to announce today, in front of this AIPAC audience...I as Prime Minster of Romania, and the government that I run, will move our embassy to Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Israel."
"I can promise you this: Romania will remain the same loyal friend and the strongest European voice in support of the Jewish people and the State of Israel."
Israeli premier Binyamin Netanyahu hailed the announcement, and congratulated Dăncilă on the move.
“I congratulate my friend, the Prime Minister of Romania, Viorica Dancila, on her announcement at AIPAC that she would act to complete the procedures needed to open the Romanian embassy in Jerusalem,” Netanyahu tweeted.