Romania parliament head calls to ‘seriously consider’ Jerusalem embassy move

Liviu Dragnea cites ‘practical matters’ in his position, noting all Israeli central institutions are in the city

Raphael Ahren is a former diplomatic correspondent at The Times of Israel.

Romanian Parliament head Liviu Dragnea (YouTube screenshot)
Romanian Parliament head Liviu Dragnea (YouTube screenshot)

The head of Romania’s parliament, Liviu Dragnea, said Friday the European nation should “seriously consider” moving its embassy to Jerusalem, following in the footsteps of the United States.

“I think Romania should seriously consider moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. We should think about it very seriously,” he told reporters, according to The Romania Journal.

He cited “practical matters” in his opinion. “All Israeli central institutions are in Jerusalem and the ambassadors and the embassy’s staff are commuting from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.”

Dragnea’s statement came a day after the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning the Trump administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and calling on countries not to move their diplomatic missions to the city.

A total of 128 countries voted in favor of the text, with 9 voting against.

Romania broke European Union consensus on the vote by abstaining, along with 34 other countries.

Following Trump’s announcement on December 6, Israeli leaders have encouraged world leaders to follow the US example and announce the relocation of their embassies to Jerusalem as well, but have not received much of a response so far.

Czech Republic President Milos Zeman said his country should move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, but the country’s prime minister, Andrej Babis, later said he had no immediate plans to do so.

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