Independent presidential candidate Daniel Funeriu said on Monday that Romania has an ambassador to the United States, a foreign minister and an acting president at its helm, and does not need a character „with no connection whatsoever to any constitutional authority” to speak to President Donald Trump. In this line, Funeriu accused Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu of building a „parallel 2.0 state.”

„Romania has an ambassador to the United States. It has a foreign minister. Romania has a president – acting, it’s true, but perfectly constitutional. Mr. Ciolacu, why would Romania need a character with no connection whatsoever to any constitutional authority to ‘speak to Trump’? Mr. Ciolacu, you use the same logic as your predecessor Ponta – ‘I know a guy’ in the right place and ‘I’ll put a word in where we need to’. No, Mr. Ciolacu, that’s not how you run a country. A country is run with worthy, professional people, perfectly trained for the diplomatic post. A country is not run with ‘I know a guy who can grease the right wheels’,” Funeriu wrote on Facebook, advising acting President Ilie Bolojan to „publicly disassociate himself” from the prime minister’s actions.

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu declared on Monday that the public opinions expressed by Romanian citizens with no official capacity are purely personal and do not imply a position of the Romanian state, therefore the priorities of the Romanian foreign policy remain unchanged. He also noted that just as the Poles turned to their diaspora to increase the visibility of their own state, he will do the same with anyone who is willing to actively support Romania.

AGERPRES