The presidential candidate of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), George Simion, has called on Romania’s ambassador to the United States, Andrei Muraru, to resign from his position after Muraru publicly criticized Simion for his statements regarding Romania’s potential exclusion from the Visa Waiver Program.

George Simion claims that the Romanian ambassador’s use of his official position to campaign against him during an electoral race is ‘a serious breach of any democratic norm.’

‘Andrei Muraru has become an electoral agent of the system! What the ambassador of Romania to the United States is doing has nothing to do with diplomacy anymore. It is a national disgrace for a public servant, paid from public funds, to act as a political agitator against a presidential candidate. Andrei Muraru no longer represents Romania, he represents the political cliques that appointed him and whom he serves with servility. Using his official position to campaign against me in the middle of an election is a serious violation of any democratic rule. The fact that he had nothing to say when Romania was treated with disdain by the Biden administration, but now suddenly speaks out, shows clearly whose side he is on,’ Simion said in a press release.

In his opinion, Romanians do not need ambassadors ‘who play dirty games, but people of dignity who defend the country, not a party.’

‘I publicly call on Andrei Muraru to resign! He has gone far beyond any limit,’ added the AUR leader.

Ambassador Andrei Muraru had previously criticized George Simion, the AUR leader and presidential candidate in the second round of elections, for his remarks regarding Romania’s exclusion from the Visa Waiver Program, which allows visa-free travel to the United States.

‘Mr. Simion’s gesture of scorning his own nation will remain, even in the eyes of our American partners, a display of servility, weakness, and inability to stand for the dignity of his own people,’ Muraru said in a statement sent to AGERPRES on Monday.

According to the ambassador, ‘Mr. Simion’s satisfaction regarding this decision shows his undisguised contempt for Romania’s national interest and the rights of Romanian citizens.’

‘Mr. Simion’s statement regarding the so-called manipulation of the visa refusal rate (a mandatory condition for joining the U.S. visa waiver program) by Romanian authorities is irresponsible, scandalous and false,’ Muraru added.

In an article published on his website on May 10, George Simion wrote that he thanks the United States ‘for sending a clear message: Romania is not currently a democratic state worthy of the Visa Waiver, due to 35 years of corruption and the cancellation of elections, which have led to Romania becoming the only EU member state classified as a ‘hybrid regime,’ one step away from ‘junk’ status.

AGERPRES