MFA Press Statement: Meeting between MFA and Romanian Ambassador HE Aurelian Neagu

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) met HE Aurelian Neagu, the Romanian Ambassador to Singapore (based in Tokyo), in MFA on Thursday 29 April 2010.

Seeking Clarification

MFA sought clarification from Ambassador Neagu on the Third Person Note (TPN) dated 23 April 2010 from the Romanian Embassy which asserted that Dr Silviu Ionescu's diplomatic immunity, in accordance with Article 39.2 of the Vienna Convention, "continues to subsist" on 15 December 2009, the day of the hit-and-run accident.

MFA told Ambassador Neagu that we were puzzled by the TPN of 23 April 2010 because it seemed to imply that Romania was claiming that Dr Ionescu had been engaged in official duties at the time of the accident.

We did not understand how this could possibly be the case, given that the sequence of events clearly showed that he had ceased his official role and he was attending the private birthday party of a karaoke lounge hostess in a karaoke lounge prior to the accident.

MFA presented Ambassador Neagu with a TPN seeking clarification on the assertions made in the Romanian TPN of 23 April 2010.

What Does Romania Consider "Official Duties"?

In the course of the meeting, MFA directly asked Ambassador Neagu three times whether he personally as an experienced diplomat, or the Romanian Government, would consider attending the private birthday party of a karaoke lounge hostess in a karaoke lounge part of the official diplomatic functions of the head of a Romanian diplomatic mission.

Ambassador Neagu did not answer these direct questions.

No Determination Yet Made

However, Ambassador Neagu said that he had been instructed by his government to explain to MFA that the Romanian authorities had not yet made any determination with regard to the status of Dr Ionescu's diplomatic immunity on 15 December 2009.

Ambassador Neagu told MFA that the official Romanian inquiry into Dr Ionescu's actions in Singapore on 15 December 2009 was still on-going. It was not yet possible for Romania to officially conclude if Dr Ionescu's diplomatic immunity had ceased or not because the investigations by the Romanian authorities had yet to determine whether or not Dr Ionescu was acting in an official capacity on 15 December 2009.

Ambassador Neagu gave the assurance that if the investigations determined that Dr Ionescu was acting in a private capacity at the material time of the accident, the Romanian authorities would "take full legal action" against Dr Ionescu.

MFA welcomed Ambassador Neagu's clarification and requested that the Romanian authorities officially confirm this verbal clarification by TPN.

Why The Delay?

MFA told Ambassador Neagu that we did not understand how the Romanian authorities could possibly come to any conclusion on the status of Dr Ionescu's diplomatic immunity at the time of the accident on 15 December 2009 unless the Romanian prosecutor and police visited Singapore to review the evidence with their counterparts here.

MFA reminded Ambassador Neagu that three weeks had passed since their last meeting on 9 April 2010 during which Ambassador Neagu had assured MFA that the Romanian prosecutor was ready to visit Singapore "at any time".

But MFA had still not received any information from Romania with regard to the visit of the Romanian team to the Joint Technical Working Group.

MFA told Ambassador Neagu that delay only fuelled speculation about Romania's seriousness and intentions.

Bureaucratic Procedures and Thorough Preparations

Ambassador Neagu explained the delay in the team's visit to Singapore was due to internal bureaucratic procedures in Romania. The Romanian authorities also had to translate (into Romanian) and study the volumes of documentation provided by Singapore before they could seek permission from higher authorities to make the visit to Singapore. Thorough preparations were necessary to ensure that their legal case against Dr Ionescu would hold up against any challenge that Dr Ionescu's lawyers may make.

Appointment of a Special Envoy

MFA informed Ambassador Neagu that in anticipation that this may have been the reason for the delay, and to safeguard Singapore's interests, we had appointed our Ambassador in Brussels, Mr Anil Kumar Nayar, who is concurrently accredited to the European Union (EU), as Singapore's Special Envoy to Romania to establish communications directly with the Romanian Government on this case.

Special Envoy Nayar, accompanied by officials from Singapore's Attorney-General's Chambers, wanted to visit Romania in May 2010 to provide the Romanian authorities with any assistance they may require to facilitate and expedite their preparations to visit Singapore.

MFA asked the Romanian Foreign Ministry to facilitate this visit and other subsequent visits, by granting Singapore's Special Envoy and his team access to the relevant Romanian officials and agencies.

MFA also informed Ambassador Neagu that in addition to appointing a Special Envoy, the Singapore Government had engaged a legal counsel in Romania to look after Singapore's interests in this case.

MFA stressed several times that the appointment of Singapore's Special Envoy and his proposed visit to Bucharest in May was not a substitute for an early visit to Singapore by the Romanian team for the Joint Technical Working Group.

Ambassador Neagu thanked MFA for the appointment of Singapore's Special Envoy, saying that it would help facilitate matters. He would convey this to his authorities and work with MFA on dates for the visit of the Special Envoy.

MFA handed over to Ambassador Neagu a copy of Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr George Yeo's letter officially appointing our Ambassador in Brussels as Singapore's Special Envoy.

Foreign Minister's Letter

Ambassador Neagu also thanked Minister George Yeo for his letter to Romanian Foreign Minister HE Teodor Baconschi of 26 April 2010 and said that his Minister would be replying soon.

Minister George Yeo had met with Minister Baconschi at the Vatican on 21 April 2010 and had subsequently written to thank Minister Baconschi for his expression of sympathy to the people of Singapore and his assurance that the Romanian Government was giving the case the highest attention to ensure that justice was done.

Diplomatic Concerns

MFA informed Ambassador Neagu that there was strong interest and concern in the diplomatic corps in Singapore on the case as many felt that Dr Ionescu had tarnished the reputation of all diplomats. As Romania is a member state of the EU, MFA had briefed EU Ambassador Holger Standertskjold-Nordenstam and Spanish Ambassador Antonio Sanchez Jara (in his capacity as the current EU Presidency) on the facts of the case.

Outrage and Consequences

MFA reiterated to Ambassador Neagu that the Romanian Government should not underestimate the outrage that has been aroused in Singapore over the case. Feelings of Singaporeans remain high and would not abate so long as justice was not seen to have been served by the Romanian authorities. If justice were not done, Singapore would have to act and there would be consequences for bilateral relations.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
29 APRIL 2010