German Chancellor Requested Romanian President To Stop Movement Of Embassy To Jerusalem

The German head of state advised Iohannis during a phonecall in April to block the government’s efforts of moving the embassy, according to a source quoted by The Jerusalem Post, noting that Merkel held talks with other political leaders in her effort to avoid the relocation of their nation’s embassies to the contested city.

The Romanian Government announced in April that it intends to moves Romania’s Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, sparking vehement reactions from President Klaus Iohannis and opposition leaders – with Liberal Party Chairman Ludovic Orban even filing an unsuccessful criminal complaint against the country’s prime minister, accusing her of usurping the president’s authorities.

Since then Romania’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has finished an assessment on the potential move in September, which it sent to the Prime Minister, with no new developments recorded in the meantime.

The United States and Guatemala are the only states which officially moved their embassies to Jerusalem, which has been at the forefront of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the past couple of decades. The European Union criticized the move, and announced that it considers Jerusalem a common capital of both Israel and the Palestinian Authority.