I noticed in the last few hours that the (Romanian) media has been buzzing because one of the latest documents from Wikileaks mentions an incident from 2004:
US diplomats in Bucharest feared a “stormy downturn” in relations with Romania after fatal road accident involving a US marine stationed at the embassy.
The 2007 cable said many ordinary Romanians were deeply angered as the victim of the road crash was one of Romania’s more popular rock musicians, Teo Peter, 50, bass player with the group Compact.
The US embassy cable puts across the concerns of the staff based in Bucharest in no uncertain terms: “In short, we are bracing ourselves for a stormy downturn in the relationship, prompted by the continuing negative legacy of the death of this Romanian cultural icon. Some of the damage to our popular standing and to our interests in Romania may be lasting.”
It feared the things would get worse when Peter’s family went public with the news that the US had met their multimillion dollar settlement claim with an offer of $80,000:
The popular outcry over what will be seen by most Romanians as an insultingly small offer to Peter’s survivors will prompt renewed calls, with much more potential popular support, for the rapid withdrawal of Romanian troops from Iraq. Likewise, backing in the Romanian parliament and among members of the public for the new U.S. troop presence at joint U.S.-Romanian military facilities on the Black Sea will plummet, at least temporarily.
The victim of the car accident, Teo Peter, was travelling in a taxi which was hit by a vehicle being driven by Marine Staff Sargeant Christopher VanGoethem, who worked as an embassy guard. The soldier had diplomatic immunity from prosecution in Romania and he left the country immediately after the 2004 accident.
He was later acquitted of negligent homicide but convicted of making a false official statement to investigators and obstructing justice at a court martial in Virginia.
I was living in Romania back in 2004 and I remember this story vividly. Teo Peter was buried in Cluj and it was one of the first things that happened around here after I moved to this country.
There’s even a mention of it in my book (in the section about drinking and driving) precisely because it still angers me to this day.
The fact remains that a U.S. Marine, while off-duty and driving an enormous embassy SUV, was drunk and slammed into a taxi. It smashed the entire rear end of the car and killed poor Teo Peter, who was just riding home in a cab like I and millions of Romanians do every single day.
The Romanian police, doing their job exactly like they should, pulled over this drunken cowboy and proceeded to follow the law and give him a blood test to determine if his blood alcohol level was over the limit. Not only does this miserable coward refuse to take the test and comply with the law but calls the embassy and the American government literally whisked him out of the country overnight.
He then faced a court martial back in the United States and got a slap on the wrist, essentially suffering no penalty for such shameless behavior and conduct unbecoming a Marine.
The fact that Van Goethem was entirely at fault is undisputed. He made a left turn directly into oncoming traffic and murdered an innocent man. The taxi driver was in his correct lane and completely not at fault.
I am and continue to be damn ashamed of this kind of behavior. I’ve known lots of drunk drivers in America and if you break the law and crash your car (or god forbid, kill someone) you pay the penalty. It sucks because it’s usually entirely unintentional but we’re all adults so we’re responsible for our choices.
Unless of course you work for the American government. These kinds of incidents with the government protecting criminal soldiers is neither new nor restricted to Romania – I can think of some fairly egregious cases, especially in Japan and the Philippines at American military bases there.
Honestly I’m damn lucky Romanians are so forgiving because even though I have absolutely no connection with Van Goethem or the American government, I’m still a U.S. citizen and it’d be really easy to hate me for what my government did (and still does) on a daily basis. Frankly I’m ashamed to say I’m American sometimes because of shameful sh*t like this.
And despite my words here and Wikileaks and the rest, not to mention whatever “temporary” upset Romanians felt, the fact remains that there are Americans soldiers stationed in Romania as I speak and Teo Peter is still in the cold, hard ground.
Odihneste-te in pace, frate
Rest in peace, brother.
All Things Romania 
My cousin Teo was not Romanian. He all the time was proud of his Hungarian ancientors !
Please do not turn his memory in blcak !
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@Peter Sorin: it’s a shame to use Teo’s memory for your nationalist beliefs. Teo Peter was more Romanian than you will ever be a Hungarian.
If you have any doubts, just remember his musical career. And try to honor it.
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Loving the pics! Also, it really ties into the book I’m rnadieg, a YA fantasy called Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier. It’s based off the 12 Dancing Princesses and set in this region, near Sibiu. I think you’d really like it (if you haven’t already read it).And I can’t remember if I mentioned this to you or not…I’ve been recommending this book left and right to everyone.
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well, mate, i’m not sure if the hungarians cared at all about his death. no hungarians here, at least.
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Now… one of our diplomats killed someone in SINGAPORE and didn’t payed for it at all (yet).
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Uh…such immunity is not unique to US diplomats. Do some research. If a romanian diplomat did the same thing in the US he or she would have the same immunity. Before you respond, do some research. This is not unique to the US. It is how the entire world of diplomacy works. Again, check it out for yourself. Check out how many times a non-US diplomat did something just as horrible in the US and is not held accountable. I like your blog, you usually do your research, but you dropped the ball on this one.
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You know what? I’ve actually read the Vienna Convention for my job before so please. I am fully aware of the concept of diplomatic immunity and that Staff Sergeant Van Goethem, as a U.S. Marine posted to the American Embassy, had such immunity. I never once said any laws or treaties were broken w/r/t this issue.
Furthermore, I have known and continue to know a number of foreign dignitaries in the United States, right down to the Cuban Ambassador himself. I am quite aware that they have immunity AND that sometimes this immunity is invoked. He certainly never paid parking tickets, that’s for sure.
NONETHELESS, as the quoted and linked to Wikileaks report stated, in plain and simple English, this incident in Romania created a furor. Secondly, in a follow-up comment, I shared one link where an American soldier was tried for (and convicted) of rape in the Philippines. If you really would like, I can show you 10 or more related cases wherein people with diplomatic immunity were NOT shielded and allowed to be tried.
MY POINT is and was that shielding SSgt VanGoethem did nothing but anger and upset Romanians, jeopardize US-Romanian relations and for what? For nothing. It was clearly a panic move and a big middle finger to Romania. It would’ve “cost” the US nothing to allow him to stand trial for manslaughter and it would’ve greatly improved US-Romanian relationships (plus worldwide, as well).
Please do YOUR research.
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Hopefully Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would handle better a hypothetical new VanGoethem case. USA is not the same anymore, and let’s hope the Bush years will never return. Strangely enough (but actually there are economic, political, cultural and religious reasons for that), quite a few Romanian intellectuals involved with the reformist (now waning) PDL are rooting for the GOP.
The US of A have still made amends (“au dres busuiocul”) by instituting a Teo Peter memorial award, but I guess what’s done it’s done.
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Jojo- Quarter mile? Kidlets? You are cheerfully and colmeltepy excused! Megan- You’d fit right in here. Your husband would have trouble with city parking and gas prices. Summer- Very good question. Sometimes, after an afternoon on foot, it seems I have nothing but “blister shoes”. I’m hoping to remedy that soon. Della- I hope you’re running again soon. No matter what shoes you have on.
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You’re being a bit naive here. As @livinginbucharest points out, the Romanians acted according to an agreement they had willingly signed.
What’s more, Romania’s rich and powerful get away with this kind of thing all the time (only they do not usually kill such high-profile victims).
What about the infamous incident in 2008 on Sos. Kiseleff when a rich business woman driving an Audi at great speed – Anamaria Straus – killed a young student on a pedestrian crossing?
Straus got nothing more than a two year suspended sentence.
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I know several people who carry black passports so I’m not being naive. The fact that the soldier had diplomatic immunity is not what angers people but that he was protected for absolutely no good reason. I’m not saying if the Ambassador himself was involved that it would’ve been okay but at least I could’ve understood why a high-ranking politician would be protected.
It would’ve “cost” the government nothing to allow this drunken Marine (who was NOT performing his duty at the time of the murder) to stand trial here (they have the ability to waive his immunity) and it would’ve at least given Teo Peter and this country some kind of justice.
As for Anamaria Strauss, that’s a separate issue involving the Romanian justice system. What happened w/r/t Teo Peter was entirely due to the American government’s DIRECT involvement.
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All true, but has America ever allowed any of its soldier boys to be tried abroad?
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Yes of course. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8015773.stm
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Yeah, the Teo Peter thing was rather shocking. Romanians could have acted more brave, anyway – they could have also called their military, and the press, and it was nothing the US Embassy could have done to stop them, should they chose to act fast.
The simple fact is that :
– Romanians acted like pussies in front of the much faster American officials
– The Sargent was evacuated because of a treaty signed by Romania
– Romanian’s lawyer at the trial was someone who shouldn’t be trusted to wax shoes.
Romanians are not that forgiving, I’m afraid. However, I trust they are smart enough to make differences.
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We forgive and forget nothing about what happened to Teo Peter! Our silence is one of helplessness on the matter, in no way one of forgiveness and we will certainly not forget this!
With the death of Teo Peter and specially in the aftermath of his death it became clear that our relation with USA is by no means one of partnership but one open to humiliation on our part.
Regarding ordinary Americans, as “c” said it is stupid to blame every American for the deeds of one coward and irresponsible marine and the joke that is the American military justice system.
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I don’t think Romanians are that forgiving.
It’s rather a good thing to maintain lucidity and distinguish the guilty party (the drunk driver and idiot Government officials, in my opinion at least). It _is_ still enraging that such “blat clar” can happen with nonchalance in the 21st century. But blaming an entire nation for some scums is something that plagued Romanians for the past 20 years or so. People may just choose to not blindly do the same…
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You can claim jet lag for three to four days, followed by a week of eeucsxs for getting the kids calmed down and laundry done after vacation. That’s my official pronouncement on the subject.Also, that big old slug is no way as scary as the freakish baby head coat of arms eeeeek!Meanwhile love your first pic. Those hills are alive with the sound of music.
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