Romania gives German foreign minister map of France
March 11, 2015
Romania's foreign ministry fired its spokeswoman Wednesday after Germany's top diplomat, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, was given a gift with a map of France instead of Germany.
Steinmeier was handed the gift- with the German flag contained in an outline of France- from Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu after a press conference on Monday to mark 135 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Aurescu personally apologized for the mix-up, as did the printing company. The Romanian Foreign Ministry dismissed its spokeswoman Brandusa Predescu over the incident, saying it "projected a totally unfavorable image" of the government office.
Agerpres national news agency, which printed the brochure, said it was punishing the editor in charge of the slip-up by docking her salary ten percent for the next three months.
Steinmeier reacted gracefully, according to Romanian media, saying he hadn't even noticed the mistake. Perhaps he felt a certain amount of understanding for the gaffe- on a diplomatic trip to Kinshasa last month, his ministry gifted both countries' entourages lapel pins featuring the flag of Germany and neighboring Republic of the Congo, instead of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
es/rc (AP, dpa)