The Romanian government has recalled its ambassador to Kenya Dragos Tigau over an alleged racist slur he uttered during a meeting in Nairobi in April.
In a statement on Saturday, Romania said Tigau has been summoned to relook into the allegations.
“The Romanian Ambassador to Kenya should urgently return to Romania so that necessary procedures, including the determination of the internal measures to be taken,” the statement read in part.
The Romanian government also regretted the situation and apologized to all those who were affected.
“We deeply regret this situation, convey our apologies to all those affected, and strongly reject and condemn all behaviors and attitudes incompatible with mutual respect,” Romania noted.
The European country further termed Tigau’s remarks as an isolated case that should not affect the relations between Romania and African countries.
“We express our hope that this isolated incident will not affect the deep relations between Romania and the African countries, especially considering that Romanian diplomacy considers the development of relations with Africa, ” the statement added.
Romania also briefed African diplomats in Bucharest about the development in Kenya and the measures they had taken about Tigau.
Tigau is accused of using a monkey reference during a meeting at the UN headquarters on April 26.
The complaints had toned down until Former Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau took to Twitter to accuse the ambassador of racism.
“Appalled and disgusted at learning of remarks by Romanian ambassador in Nairobi in reference to African group members as ‘monkeys’ during Eastern European group meeting. Utter shame on attempts to cover up this disgrace. This is intolerable and unacceptable!” Ambassador Kamau tweeted.
Tigau has since apologized to African diplomats for his utterances and will face a full disciplinary hearing back home.
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