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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) announced that the employment relationship with a clerk from the Romanian Consulate in Catania, Italy had been concluded, stating that the way he managed the dialogue with a Romanian citizen was "reprehensible", in violation of the rules of conduct.
The above-mentioned remarks were made after information appeared in the public space that sportswoman Alina Craciun, who plays basketball for the Alma Basketball Patti team, asked for help from the Romanian Consulate for repatriation, but was told to stop calling because she is already on the waiting list and was urged to call President Klaus Iohannis.
"Regarding the situation of a Romanian citizen in the Italian Republic for sports activities and who addressed the Romanian Consulate in Catania, the MAE makes the following clarifications: the behavior manifested by the consular officer and the way in which the latter managed the dialogue with the Romanian citizen are reprehensible, represent a violation of the rules of conduct and the principles that guide the work of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps of Romania and are not representative of the way in which the diplomatic missions and consular offices of Romania manage the requests for assistance received from Romanian citizens," reads a press release from the MAE sent to AGERPRES on Monday.
According to the MAE, by disposition of Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu, the employment contract of the official in question, locally employed by the Romanian Consulate in Catania, has been terminated, according to the laws in force.
As for the situation of the sportswoman, who is in Sicily with her partner, a tourist, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that the consular office entered into dialogue with her during March and communicated the possibilities of repatriation, including information on the flight organized by the Romanian authorities on 25 March.
"In addition, the consulate's representatives have taken steps with various road transport companies to support the repatriation by road of the person concerned and her partner, offering as a possible solution the repatriation with the first planned land transportation in early June. At the same time, the Romanian citizen was informed about the possibility of organizing a new flight to Bucharest and who would leave Rome in the next period. The MAE states that, in the context of the dialogue with the consular office, the person concerned has always made it clear that she cannot travel with any airline because she is travelling accompanied by a pet, which is not usually accepted on any flight," the MAE release added.
