Romania demands explanations from PM of North Rhine-Westphalia for statement linking Romanians to COVID-19 outbreak

Romania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) is asking the Minister-President of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia for explanations on his statement that Romanians are a source of a COVID-19 outbreak identified at the Rheda-Wiedenbruck slaughterhouse of the Tonnies meat processor.

MAE says in a press statement that the allegation "could damage the image of the Romanian workers in Germany."

Thus, according to MAE, the German Embassy in Bucharest has been contacted "to signal the way in which these unclear statements were perceived that left room for interpretation in the sense that the Romanian and Bulgarian workers were at the origin of this new COVID-19 outbreak, and also to request clarification, including in public, of the said statements."

At the same time, the Romanian Embassy in Berlin sent an official letter to the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet, requesting clarification of his statements.

MAE says that against the background of these developments, Ralph Brinkhaus, MP for North Rhine-Westphalia and chairman of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group in the German Federal Parliament, contacted the Romanian Embassy in Berlin to say that Romanian workers are not considered in any way responsible for the COVID-19 outbreak.