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BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania has named a respected diplomat as foreign minister after two ministers resigned over criticism about the way voting was organized for Romanians abroad in a recent election.
Bogdan Aurescu, 41, was named by Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Monday and the president accepted the appointment.
The previous two ministers resigned this month after protests erupted in Romania and abroad over two rounds of presidential voting, with thousands complaining they stood in line for hours at embassies and other facilities. There were about 400,000 absentee voters in the Nov. 16 runoff of which about 80 percent voted for President-elect Klaus Iohannis.
Ponta, who lost to Iohannis, says he will introduce postal voting for the estimated 3 million Romanians living abroad. President Traian Basescu ends his mandate on Dec. 21.
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