Romanian official calls on his country to move embassy to Jerusalem, following US steps

Palestine

Published: 2017-12-24 15:09

Last Updated: 2024-03-27 23:50


Protests against Trump's decision. (AlJazeera.net)
Protests against Trump's decision. (AlJazeera.net)

Romanian Ruling Social Democratic Party’s leader, Liviu Dragnea called his government to ‘seriously consider’ moving the Romanian Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the US newspaper, Politico reported.

“All Israel’s central institutions are in Jerusalem, and ambassadors and embassy staff commute from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” Dragnea said.

His remarks came on Friday, after the UN General Assembly meeting to decide on the resolution criticizing US President, Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.

Dragnea, who is the head of the Romanian parliament’s lower house, visited Israel at least twice this year, local Israeli reports said.

Romania abstained from voting on the UN resolution with another 35 countries, while 128 countries voted backing the decision.

Romania’s position is believed to be related to US threats to the countries who are thinking about backing the draft resolution, especially those who the US fund, including Romania.

However, the Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry said after the UN’s vote that they back a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

The Czech President, Milos Zeman, also said earlier that they are considering moving their embassy to Jerusalem, following US decision.

“Every country has the right to decide which city will serve as its capital, and by the same token, every country has the right to decide where its embassy will be located,” he said.

On the other hand, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, ruled out his President’s suggestion, saying Trump’s move “is not good”. “You can see the reactions”, he added.

It had been a crucial promise in Trump’s presidential campaign to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and to declare Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, according to the Jerusalem Embassy Act, which was issued in 1995 as a public law of the US. The law was issued to be implemented no later than May 1999.

The law was not implemented due to opposition from Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama. Until Trump’s announcement on December 6th, 2017.