Romanian Prime Minister Announces Relocation of Israel Embassy Jerusalem

Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila announced on Sunday, during a visit to the US, that Romania will move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, pending the finish of an analysis on the subject. She was later criticized by President Klaus Iohannis, who denied that a decision was made.

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In a speech held during the 2019 American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Conference, the Romanian chief of cabinet praised the similar decision made by the US in 2018, stating that the Trump Administration’s move “launched an international reflection process” on the matter.

“I am delighted to announce today, in front of the AIPAC audience, that after the analysis is finished by all the constitutional actors involved in decision-making in my country, and in full consensus, I, as prime minister of Romania and the Government which I lead, we will move Romania’s embassy to Jerusalem, the capital of Israel,” Dancila said during the conference.

The announcement sparked criticism from President Klaus Iohannis, who opposed the move ever since it was first announced in 2018. Romania’s Presidential Administration announced in a statement that an eventual decision on the matter will be made following after a Foreign Affairs Ministry analysis on the opportunity of the move is finished, and highlighted the fact that the final decision belongs to the president.

“Prime Minister Viorica Dancila is demonstrating yet again her total ignorance of foreign affairs and important decision-making in the Romanian state. In her willingness to assume a decision which does not belong only to the Romanian Government, as she wants to make it look like, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila is rushing to make public statements with no decisions to back them,” the Presidential Administration statement reads.

The leader of the prime minister’s Social Democrat Party, Liviu Dragnea, initially announced in a televised interview on Sunday that the Government adopted a memorandum to launch procedures for moving the embassy.

The United States officially moved its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem on May 14, 2018. Several weeks later, the Romanian Government announced that it will also look into the opportunity of moving its embassy to the city, claimed as capital by both Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

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