Romania’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement distancing itself from two senior ex-officials who were photographed with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Wednesday.
Adrian Năstase and Viorica Dăncilă, both former prime ministers of Romania, traveled to Beijing to attend celebrations marking the end of China’s participation in World War II.
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As per Romanian outlet Digi24, Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Țoiu said that the two former prime ministers attended the event in a private capacity, not an official one.
“Romania is not and cannot be represented by politicians who sit honored in a picture next to Putin today,” she said.
The two men appeared in a group photograph of world leaders and senior officials who attended the events, including Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Neither of the two Romanians holds a position in the current Romanian government. Năstase, who was prime minister between 2000 and 2004, served a jail sentence for corruption in the late 2000s, as per European Pravda.
Țoiu also said that China invited representatives of the current Romanian government to attend the celebrations, but they declined. The foreign minister criticized the two former prime ministers for accepting.
“It is very difficult to be able to talk about patriotism when you sit honored in a photo next to someone who practically bombs Romanian-speaking communities in Ukraine,” she said, citing a recent missile strike on Izmail in southwestern Ukraine.
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Few European countries were represented in Beijing – Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico and Serbia’s Aleksander Vucic were among the only exceptions – and not for the first time. Both leaders also attended Putin’s Victory Day Parade in Moscow in May this year.