Comanescu about Klemm's picture with Szekler flag: Everybody assumes responsibility for what they do

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lazar Comanescu, said that he spoke with US Ambassador Hans Klemm, about the photograph in which the American diplomat appears holding a Szekler flag, during a visit to Covasna county. 

"We spoke on the phone. (...) I said that, (...) in relations between states, anywhere in the world, there can be topics, aspects, that at a point, in certain circumstances, may generate sensibilities," said Lazar Comanescu, on Sunday, at private broadcaster Digi 24. 

Comanescu mentioned that there was no summoning of the US ambassador to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the matter. "That is an inexact information, there was no summons," said Comanescu. 

Asked if the US Ambassador made "a mistake" in this case, Lazar Comanescu mentioned that the ulterior reaction of Hans Klemm clarified things. 

"The reaction fo Mr. Ambassador Klemm, (...) in Craiova, I believe clarified things. There are, for America, for himself, but two flags, the national flag of Romania and the flag of the United States of America. (...) I believe that, as himself said, it was a gesture of courtesy, (...) he was in a situation in which he had to manifest with this gesture of courtesy," Comanescu showed. 

Furthermore, he considers that, when you know the history and sensibilities of a country, you take them into account. "When you know very well, I said it then, the history, the sensibilities, you take them into account. (...) Everybody assumes responsibility for what they do," the Minister of Foreign Affairs also said, asked if he would've done the same gesture as the US Ambassador. 

In September, the mayor of Sfantu Gheorghe, Antal Arpad, published on Facebook a photograph in which he appears together with the US Ambassador in Romania and other local representatives holding a Szekler flag. 

"I gifted a flag of the Szekler community to the US ambassador, flag that has become a symbol of lack of respect of the authorities towards the Szekler community. I mention that this flag was first used in 1599, when the Szeklers fought together with Michael the Brave," said mayor Antal Arpad on Facebook. AGERPRES