Romania Summons US Ambassador For Criticising Giuliani

Romania has recalled its ambassador to the US, George Maior, after he told the media on Monday that a letter sent by former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, criticising the country's anti-corruption drive, was the result of lobbying efforts by "individuals who have justice problems".

"Ambassador George Maior had a stance that was not approved at the central level in the Foreign Ministry or the government and it does not represent the Romanian Foreign Ministry's stance," a statement from the ministry issued on Monday read.

"His role is to promote the national interest ... and he is required to abstain from public statements that can negatively affect bilateral relations with other states," it added.

Giuliani, who is reportedly the US President Donald Trump's lawyer, made headlines in Romania on Monday after getting involved in a row over alleged agreements between anti-graft prosecutors and the intelligence services to use surveillance tapes in corruption investigations.

Giuliani, who now leads a law firm in New York, has sent a letter to Romania's President, Klaus Iohannis, and other Romanian officials, asking them to verify the agreements between the Attorney General's office in Bucharest and the Romanian Intelligence Service, SRI, and to stop any pressure on judges.

"I am writing to express my concerns about continuing damage to the rule of law in Romania being done under the guise of effective law enforcement," Giuliani wrote in his letter, published by Romania's news agency Medifax on Sunday.

He said that efforts to strengthen the rule of law in Romania had been "severely undermined" by the recent "excesses of Romania's National Anticorruption Directorate, DNA, under its former Chief, Laura Codruta Kovesi".

Excesses...