Senate Speaker Tariceanu calls performance of Romanian Ambassador to the US “very poor”

Senate President Calin Popescu-Tariceanu said on Wednesday that George Maior’s performance as Romania’s ambassador to the US is “very poor” and dubbed him a “partisan political agent.”

On Wednesday George Maior sat through the hearings of the Senate’s Foreign Policy Commission. During the hearings, Tariceanu asked him if the statements made in connection with Rudolph Giuliani’s letter were made with the consent of the Foreign Ministry.

“Ambassadors are instructed not to comment on the political realities of the country to which they are sent, and those who do not comply with this rule first expose themselves; but what is worse, they create suspicions, given that they have abandoned both impartiality and neutrality (…). When, in his statements, an ambassador promotes to the public in Romania his own opinions with approaches that are foreign to  his mission, he de facto abandons the mission with which he was invested, becoming – what you did – a partisan political agent. (…) This posture is unacceptable, “Tariceanu told Maior.

Moreover, during the hearing he argued that Maior’s performance in connection to the United States is “very poor.” “From my point of view, the performance you have had as ambassador to the US is a very poor one. We have not seen any significant progress on the very important issue for Romania regarding visas for Romanian citizens,” Tariceanu argued. “Second, there were zero results in the political dialogue at governmental and parliamentary level. Last but not least, the economic dimension of the partnership. (…) If we are talking about a strategic partnership, it seems to me that the visit of President Klaus Iohannis is an element, but (…) since you were appointed ambassador, we were expecting much more. “