President William Ruto on Wednesday received the new Romanian ambassador to Kenya Gentiana Serbu following the exit of her predecessor, Dragos Tigau who was recalled in June over racist remarks.
In a statement, Ruto confirmed that the diplomat had submitted to him her credentials at State House and outlined key areas of partnership between the two nations.
While identifying Tourism as a priority area, Ruto reaffirmed the commitment to maintaining strong diplomatic ties, consistent with the positive relationship established in recent years.
Ruto was accompanied by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi who also heads the Foreign Affairs docket.
"Relations between Kenya and Romania have been growing over time, making way for the exploration of opportunities in trade, investment and education.
"We are looking forward to escalating our ties to cover other areas such as tourism for the mutual benefit of the two countries," he stated.
Serbu is a career diplomat who has served in various countries including Cuba, Maldova, and Belgium among other nations.
She will be replacing Tigau who was recalled in June over remarks that were widely deemed to be racist.
The controversial comments were made during a meeting at the United Nations offices where it is alleged that he likened Africans to monkeys.
Following the uproar that ensued over the incident. Romania issued an apology and recalled the ambassador.
It was noted that Tigau did not inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the incident contrary to expectations.
“Romanian ambassador to Kenya should return to Romania as soon as possible, and the MFA's internal Control and Diplomatic Evaluation Unit should immediately scan the necessary procedures, including the establishment of internal necessary measures to be taken in the given situation,” read the letter in part.
