Romanian Foreign minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu submitted his resignation by courrier on Monday, a day after he announced his plan in a press conference on Sunday. The move comes as PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu asked him to do so on Friday.

The request came as the Foreign Ministry failed to inform the head of government about the situation of two Romanian workers who had been retained at a US military base in Iraq for several months.

The two were retained for taking pictures of the base, which was against military rules, last autumn. They were released last week.

Ungureanu said he took all the responsibility for failing to inform the prime minister on the situation and he understood he had to step down at Tariceanu’s request even if their opinions on the issue differed.

Ungureanu said he discussed the situation with President Traian Basescu as well but he refused to provide details in this regard.

Representatives of political parties said Ungureanu’s decision was proof of his political stature. But the opposition Social-Democrats warned the resignation would not solve anything for the ongoing political crisis in Romania, which pits President Basescu and PM Tariceanu against each other on many issues, including Iraq and the membership of the current government.