PM Ciolacu says alleged lobbyist to the US has no official capacity, Romania's foreign policy priorities unchanged

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, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) said on Monday in a Facebook post."Romania's official positions are always made known through institutional channels, that work closely with the Presidency and the Foreign Affairs Ministry. The priorities of the Romanian foreign policy therefore remain unchanged. There is no 'Ciolacu emissary', yet there are many Romanians in the diaspora - entrepreneurs, doctors, IT experts etc. - with whom I have spoken recently and who said they were willing to open various communication channels through the connections they have both in the United States and in Europe," Ciolacu wrote.He added that millions of Romanians live in the diaspora and each of them, through their daily actions, can be a very good "emissary" of our country."Just as the Poles turned to their diaspora to increase the visibility of their own state, I will do the same with anyone who is willing to actively support Romania. Between doing something for my country and continuously lamenting on social networks like others, I choose to act. Those who have kept us at the Schengen door for years are the ones who give us lessons today about what should or should not be done," Ciolacu went on to note.Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu declared on Friday that a 'new approach' is being attempted in the relationship with the United States, and that in order to present the Trump administration with a clear picture of the situation in Romania, the support of overseas Romanians involved in American Republican Party politics was signed up, one of them being businessman Dragos Sprinceana.In a recent statement for private broadcaster Digi 24, Sprinceana said that "The American administration must understand and ignore a bit Romania's pro-Ukraine and pro-France messages, because we now have an acting president who will no longer matter in a month or a month and a half. We must wait for a new president to be installed, we must wait for a stable administration to take over in Romania and then resume bilateral economic and political and strategic ties, after these elections."In the same context, he said that "the US wants the war in Ukraine to stop and, as long as Romania wants the same thing, we are on the same wavelength."Regarding his capacity as Romania's representative, Sprinceana explained that he was contacted by the Prime Minister's Office to facilitate communication between Romanian authorities and the new Trump administration."I am not an emissary of Mr. Ciolacu, I am an emissary of Romania. Mr. Ciolacu represents the office of Prime Minister of Romania. Whether some like it or not, Mr. Ciolacu is prime minister and represents Romania, and I am tasked with helping Romania indirectly. What does an emissary do? (...) In the US, politics operates on a lobbying system and that's exactly what an emissary does, opens gates, opens doors, conducts negotiations, puts Romania in a better light. And we are working together to make American politicians and the newly installed Trump administration understand exactly the truth about Romania, understand that Romania is a friend and a strategic partner," the Romanian-American businessman stated.