Romania's foreign minister Adrian Cioroianu was humiliated when entering the US. He had to take off his belt and shoes, as he wasn't treated like a high official in an official visit, but like some immigrant. He was fingerprinted, his retina was scanned and he was photographed for the record of the US interior security. ZIUA sources say the US officers asked minister Cioroianu about the purpose of his visit to the US and they were not impressed that it was about a high official. The visit during which he behaved like a parrot started bad: he crossed the border with no shoes on just to say 'yes', 'sure' and 'thank you very much' in his dialogue with the US state secretary Condoleezza Rice. Ilie Banica, a spokesman of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wouldn't answer ZIUA questions: Who was waiting for the minister at the US airport and where? Was he under security checks? What kind of checks were there? The Ministry spokesman would make long pauses. He wouldn't answer when asked, although he accompanied minister Cioroianu in his visit to the US and he could see with his own eyes what was happening. The Ministry official asked us to email the questions so that he would reply 'as soon as possible'. (...)

George DAMIAN