Romania’s Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu (picture, right) seemed bothered by certain statements made by the US Ambassador to Romania Hans Klemm (picture, left) in the local media.

After a meeting on Friday with the US official, the Romanian minister that “it’s not normal” to bring up certain topics of interest for the relation between the US and Romania via the media, reports local News.ro. These things should be communicated in an institutional way with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the specialty ministries and not via the press, Melescanu added.

The Romanian Foreign Minister also said that he had assured the US ambassador that he was capable of understanding when spoken to very directly.

The diplomatic word exchange was tied to the legislative projects on amending the criminal laws in Romania. The US ambassador made it clear that the US does not consider appropriate any measures that weaken the rule of law in Romania. He made the comments in an interview for local News.ro.

Following Melescanu’s statements, the US Embassy issued a press release on Friday saying that it “values its ongoing dialogue with the Government and other institutions of the Romanian state, as well as with the Romanian public on matters of mutual concern”. The Embassy press release was issued a few hours after the Foreign Ministry’s.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Mae.ro)