PSD's Dragnea: Jerusalem officials, deeply offended by President Iohannis's statements

Social Democratic Party (PSD) national leader Liviu Dragnea said on Sunday that Israeli officials were "offended" by statements by Romania's President Klaus Iohannis, who said that the Social Democrat leader allegedly made secret agreement with the Jews.

"That statement that he does not know what secret dealings Dragnea has made with the Jews. I do not make secret agreements with anyone. I did not hear him alluding to the secret protocols that outrage a whole country, and I do not make secret dealings with anyone. I know that the officials in Jerusalem felt deeply offended. Do you realise the enormity of those statements?," said Dragnea.

He added that the scandal related to his and Romania's Prime Minister Viorica Dancila's visit to Israel was artificially generated, underlining that the head of state has no exclusive foreign policy prerogatives. He also mentioned that a prime minister in a democratic country has the right to meet any dignitary in the world.

"I could not and should not have had to ask for anyone's approval or for a mandate. His is a statement that shows the profoundly wrong way in which Mr President looks at the constitutional settlement of state bodies and the powers of each of them. Mr President is no king. He has no exclusive powers, and no authority over Parliament or the Government. The President has to ask for a mandate when he goes to the European Council on important issues. The President has participated in many meetings of the European Council where exclusive issues were discussed that are in exclusively in the government's province, and he had no discussions before or after," Dragnea also said. AGERPRES (RO - author: Cristian Lupascu, editor: Diana Dumitru; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)