Minister-delegate for European affairs' legal powers to be taken over by other gov't official

The legal powers of the minister-delegate for European affairs regarding the representation and management of the General Affairs Council files will be taken over and fulfilled a by another government official, according to an order of the prime minister.

"According to the Prime Minister's Order of November 9, 2018, the legal powers of the minister-delegate for European affairs regarding the representation and management of General Affairs Council files will be carried out and secured by another government official from now on. In accordance with the instructions received at the ministerial level, all the documentation prepared for the good representation of Romania's interests has already been forwarded to those nominated to participate," reads a Facebook post of the Romanian Foreign Ministry's European Affairs Department.

National media reported on Saturday that Minister-delegate for European Affairs Victor Negrescu would have resigned office.

Asked on a television channel if she can confirm this information, Minister of European Funds Rovana Plumb said: "As far as I know, this resignation of Mr Negrescu has occurred."

On Sunday, Negrescu posted a series of statements on Facebook about the preparation for Romania's assuming the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2019.

"The most important thing is that the entire preparation process of the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council is going on as planned, both its political dimension and on its logistics. Everything is already prepared to the extent that no major changes emerge to the plans approved by the Romanian government or by the inter-ministerial council on the presidency of the EU Council chaired by the prime minister," he said.

"It is interesting that two days ago our activity was considered to be excellent, yielding results. It remains to be seen whether the aggressive media attack just minutes after a rumour surged miraculously on sources, by a colleague in the government and the party, is normal and real proof of collegiality and support. I have said it since I left my MEP seat for this office: I have no personal stakes; it is an honour to me to represent Romania!," Negrescu wrote.

He added that the European course of Romania must continue. "When I left the office on Friday, I left everything up to date and prepared for the next working week. My wish is for the project to have continuity. (...) I would even volunteer to work for Romania under such an important project if it is so desired," added Negrescu. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Florea, editor: Claudia Stanescu; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)