Romanian Pres OKs New Foreign Affairs Min

"President Traian Basescu signed Monday the decree appointing Lazar Comanescu as member of the Government, in the position of foreign affairs minister, following the resignation from this position of Adrian Cioroianu. The decree was sent to be published in the Official Gazette," said a press release issued by the presidency.

The document does not state the date for the investiture ceremony.

Prime minister Calin Tariceanu sent Basescu the proposition to appoint Lazar Comanescu as minister. Comanescu is former ambassador of Romania in the EU.

Government spokesperson Camelia Spataru said Tariceanu had a telephone conversation with the president, Monday afternoon, on a new foreign affairs minister, before sending the Comanescu proposition to Basescu.

Thus Comanescu becomes the third foreign affairs minister in the current government mandate, his predecessors being Mihai Razvan Ungureanu and Adrian Cioroianu. Comanescu is currently in Brussels and will return to the country in the upcoming days.