Jordan King cancels visit to Romania, protests plan to move embassy to Jerusalem

Jordan’s King Abdullah II yesterday cancelled a planned visit to Romania following revelations that the country plans to move its embassy to Israel to occupied Jerusalem, the Jordanian Royal Court revealed today.

In a statement on Facebook, the Royal Court said King Abdullah had planned to meet officials and the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis during his visit. It added this was cancelled “in solidarity with #Jerusalem, following Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă’s remarks expressing the intention to move her country’s embassy to Jerusalem”.

“On the sidelines of the visit, the Jordanian and Romanian governments had been due to sign an agreement, two memorandums of understanding, and a cooperation programme, while a Jordanian-Romanian Business Forum had been planned to be held, with the participation of private sector representatives from the two countries,” the statement added.

Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said during a speech before the AIPAC conference in Washington yesterday that her country intends to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

The statement was strongly contradicted by the country’s president, who opposes the move and has a final say on foreign policy issues.

President Klaus Iohannis called Dancila “ignorant” for making the statement, which had received strong applause from those attending the pro-Israeli conference.

US President Donald Trump recognise Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel in December 2017 and moved his country’s embassy to the occupied city on Israeli Independence Day, which marks the day in which nearly one million Palestinians were forced out of their home to make way for the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.

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