Romanian Ambassador summoned by the Hungarian Foreign Ministry. MAE: No summons, but audience at Romania’s request

Hungarian Foreign Ministry has summoned the Romanian Ambassador in Budapest, Victor Micula, in connection with allegations of Prime Minister Victor Ponta made on Monday, according to whom Hungary tried ‘to provoke’ Romania, ziare.com reports.

However later on in the day, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) mentioned that ambassador Micula had not been summoned but went to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry following his request for an audience which was asked so that the Romanian side could deliver its stance on the Hungarian ambassador’s interview for a Romanian daily directly to the Hungarian officials. The Hungarian envoy’s interview to “Romania libera’ referred to a potential autonomous state based on ethnic criteria.
In an interview on Monday for a television station, Prime Minister Ponta made reference to some previous statements of the Hungarian Ambassador to Bucharest, Botond Zakonyi, regarding the bilateral relations.
According to MTI, Zakonyi said that these relationships depend on the cooperation in infrastructure projects, but the Romanian side “fails to show sufficient good will” in this regard.
Hungarian State Secretary Levente Magyar asked the Romanian ambassador to explain the “unacceptable accusations” by Victor Ponta. The Romanian Prime Minister’s remarks indicate that he is trying to use “anti-Hungarian rhetoric to cover (…) the political crisis in his country,” MTI quotes Levente Magyar as saying.
The recent ‘outbursts’ of the Romanian Government about the relations with Hungary prove damaging, said Secretary of State Levente Magyar according to the Hungarian agency.
Prime Minister Victor Ponta said Monday night, referring to the recent interview given by the Hungarian Ambassador to Bucharest that the neighbouring country’s government wants to provoke the Romanian authorities, in the context of being criticized by the European countries and by the United States.

Also on Monday, Károly Nagy Zoltán, charge d’affaires of the Hungarian Embassy in Bucharest, was summoned to the Romanian Foreign Ministry (MAE) following some press statements made by the Hungarian ambassador Zákonyi Botond on the Romanian-Hungarian bilateral relations.
Karoly Nagy Zoltan is replacing the Hungarian Ambassador in Bucharest, currently on holiday.
MAE expressed strong disagreement with the contents of the statements made by Ambassador Zákonyi Botond on Romanian-Hungarian bilateral relations as a whole, in an interview for ‘Romania libera’ daily.
According to a press release issued by the Foreign Ministry, the Romanian side pointed out that the statements about a possible autonomous status based on ethnic criteria is equivalent to interference in the internal affairs of Romania.
“MAE emphasized the completely inadequate statement in terms of the Ambassador’s representation powers in the receiving State, especially with regard to the unacceptable and devoid of deference assessments to the Prime Minister of Romania”.
In the interview, Ambassador Zákonyi Botond said it is a problem the way Prime Minister Victor Ponta has built his image for the EU in contrast to the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban, as the good guy against the bag guy. According to the newspaper, the diplomat also warned that Romania refuses to finish the 10 cross-border roads that would connect the two countries, and that the use of Hungarian language in public administration and education is not assured.