Parliamentary committee questions foreign minister
The situation of the Romanian nationals stranded in the Middle East is on the agenda of politicians in Bucharest.
Bogdan Matei, 12.03.2026, 13:50
The latest conflict to break out in the Middle East is disrupting not only global geopolitics and the global hydrocarbon market, but also the already turbulent political scene in Romania. On Wednesday, the country’s foreign minister, Oana Ţoiu (from the Save Romania Union), appeared before the Foreign Policy Committee of the Chamber of Deputies to give explanations regarding the repatriation of Romanian nationals from the areas affected by the conflict. Earlier, Sorin Grindeanu, the president of the Social Democratic Party (in co-government) requested the Liberal Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan to send the Control Body to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to verify the situation related to the transport of Romanians from the Middle East.
During the hearings, the foreign minister said Romania had fully used the seats allocated to it on the European evacuation flights and that people with a high risk of vulnerability enjoyed priority at all times. Minister Ţoiu added that there are people who continue to choose to travel to what she called “the respective areas” and urged responsibility. “Naturally, it is the right of every citizen to plan their holidays, trips, business, as they choose, but it is a significant risk”, she warned.
For three hours, while the minister was answering questions from the committee members, the General Consul of Romania in the United Arab Emirates, Viorel Riceard Badea, also attended the hearing online, but none of the deputies wanted to ask him any questions.
In recent days, Țoiu and Badea’s names have been frequently mentioned by the local press, amid a scandal that saw a new development on Wednesday. One of the best-known stars of the Bucharest Bar Association, the lawyer Adrian Cuculis, announced that he filed a criminal complaint with the National Anticorruption Directorate against Oana Țoiu, accusing her of having intervened to prevent the daughter of former Social Democratic Prime Minister Victor Ponta from being repatriated on a plane from Dubai.
The complaint comes after, last week, Ponta and his ex-wife, former MEP Daciana Sârbu, said their daughter, Irina, still a minor, was removed from the passenger list of the plane that was supposed to bring almost 30 children back to Romania. Daciana Sârbu says that Irina Ponta was taken off the bus that was taking the children to the airport and that she was told that she was a “liability” because of who her parents are.
A scandal broke out on social networks and news channels in Romania. Two camps were formed: some said Oana Țoiu has no qualifications for the diplomatic service and that she acted out of resentment for Victor Ponta, with his underage daughter being the victim, while others point out that Victor Ponta, who resigned from his position as prime minister in 2015, amid a huge wave of street protests, who has frequently changed political sides and has run unsuccessfully for president twice, is far from being a credible character.
