Romania reacts to former Romanian officials appearing in group photo with Putin and Kim Jong Un

Romania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has responded to the news that several former Romanian officials were present at events in Beijing, where they appeared in a group photo alongside figures such as Russian ruler Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Source: Digi24, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The Foreign Ministry issued a statement after Adrian Năstase, Romania’s prime minister in the early 2000s who later received two sentences for corruption, and Viorica Dăncilă, who was prime minister in 2018-2019, travelled to Beijing to attend events organised by China to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Both are pictured in a group photo of guests in which Putin and Kim are standing in the front row next to the Chinese leader.

Năstase said he had been invited to Beijing as a former senior official.

Romanian Foreign Minister Luminița Odobescu said that Romania could not be represented by politicians who had been given the honour of being photographed with Putin.

The ministry also confirmed that China had sent invitations via Romania’s embassy to current Romanian officials, but Bucharest had declined to participate – partly because Putin was planning to attend.

Background:

• Among current European leaders, only Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić travelled to Beijing. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also attended.
• Fico held a meeting with Putin there, later saying he expected that all the EU leaders would be calling him in the coming days to learn the details.
• Fico also said that after talking with the Kremlin leader in China, he had a few messages and thoughts he wished to pass on to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

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