Flag Muddle Costs Romanian Official Her Job

Romania sacked Brandusa Predescu, the spokeperson of the Foreign Ministry, on Wednesday for mismanaging the printing of a commemorative brochure, which was handed to German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier during his visit to Romania this week.

The problem was that while the cover of the brochure contained the right flag, the German flag, it was displayed over a map of France, not Germany.

Steinmeier received the curious-looking gift from his Romanian counterpart, Bogdan Aurescu, at the end of a news conference held to mark 135 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Romania's Foreign Ministry apologized for the blunder, saying it had only received the brochure that same morning, containing the "regrettable technical error".

The printers, Agerpres, apologized to both the German and Romanian foreign ministries for the mix-up.

This was the second diplomatic gaffe involving the Romanian Foreign Ministry this year. In February, the ministry apologized for an "intolerable and deeply regrettable situation" caused by invitations sent out to a reception for Romanian President Klaus Iohannis that contained insulting remarks about some of the guests.

The emailed invitations inadvertently included a spreadsheet that described some of the guests as "undesirable" and another as "ghastly".

Iohannis was visiting France to lobby for Romania's inclusion in the EU's passport free Schengen area.

Romania is celebrating 135 years of diplomatic ties this year with Britain and France. A Romanian state was formed in the 1820s but it did not declare formal independence until 1877 after which international recognition followed at the Berlin conference of 1878.