Romania fires official for flag gift gaffe with Germany
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — The Romanian Foreign Ministry has fired its spokeswoman after Germany's foreign minister was handed a gift with a map of France instead of Germany.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier received the gift— the German flag contained in a map of France— from Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu after a news conference on Monday to mark 135 years of diplomatic relations.
Aurescu personally apologized for the mix-up, as did the printing company. On Wednesday, the foreign ministry said it had fired spokeswoman Brandusa Predescu saying "the incident...projected a totally unfavorable image" of the agency.
Romania said Steinmeier had responded diplomatically, saying he hadn't even noticed the gaffe.
