The ruling coalition has declined the president’s call for Dancila’s resignation, saying that only the parliament has the authority to decide such matters.
“Only the Parliament can evaluate the ability [of the prime minister] to rule the government and provide the necessary political support. The Parliament guarantees control over the government, the parliament voices confidence in the prime minister and the president, and only it can deprive her [the PM] of confidence. The President has no such prerogative in this field,” Kelin Popescu-Teričany told the Antena 3 TV channel.
READ MORE: Romanian President Says No EU State Plans to Move Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem
His comments followed Klaus Iohannis’ statement, saying he was not aware of the relocation of Romania’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, as well as the prime minister’s official visit to the Jewish state – Dancila overstepped her credentials on foreign policy.
“Mrs. Dancila is not coping with her position of prime minister of Romania and this is turning the government into a liability for Romania. That is why I am calling publicly for her resignation,” Iohannis said in a statement.
While Dancila said that the memorandum she had endorsed was confidential and couldn’t be published yet, Iohannis stated that moving the diplomatic premises to Jerusalem could violate international law.
“A secret document, a secret foreign policy memorandum, was discussed last week in the government. That was a big mistake. Because in foreign policy matters, if we are talking about secret documents, which obviously are sensitive otherwise they would not be secrets, the president should have been consulted, which did not happen,” Iohannis elaborated.
Romania has joined several nations, including Guatemala, Honduras and the Czech Republic, which have expressed willingness to move their embassies in Israel to Jerusalem after US President Donald Trump recognized the city as the capital of the Jewish state and ordered the relocation of the American embassy from Tel Aviv in December.