Romania MPs Grill US Ambassador Over Giuliani Remarks

Romania's ambassador to Washington, George Maior, a former director of the Romanian intelligence service, faces an uncertain future after MPs grilled him on Wednesday in parliament over his statements about former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his lobbying activities.

Senate speaker Calin Popescu Tariceanu on Wednesday told parliament's Foreign Policy Committee that he will ask the Foreign Ministry to dismiss Maior because his statements were biased and he spoke without the permission of his superiors.  

Maior on August 27 called Giuliani a "bubbly and confrontational character", and said that a letter the former New York Mayor had sent to Romanian officials, criticizing Romania's anti-corruption drive, was the result of lobbying efforts by "individuals who have justice problems".

After the US State Department and the US Embassy in Bucharest stressed that Giuliani's letter was purely personal and was contrary to the official US stance on Romania's corruption problems, Giuliani told Politico that he had been paid to lobby by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.

Giuliani said he had been paid by Freeh Group International Solutions, owned by former FBI chief Louis Freeh, who has been hired as a lawyer by several Romanian businessmen sentenced for graft in Bucharest.

But Giuliani's admission that he had been paid for lobbying work did not spare ambassador Maior. Several ruling Social Democrat MPs and MPs from its junior ally, ALDE, have called for his dismissal.

The diplomat, who has been in Washington since 2015, was summoned on Wednesday for a hearing in parliament, where MPs interrogated him over his statements and his performance as a diplomat.

"From where I stand, your performance as ambassador in the US is very weak. I...