“We can do that to any country we want,” Guilfoyle said, according to the report, referring to political turmoil that was rocking Bucharest at the time. “We can do that here,” she added.

Papastavrou reportedly responded that the U.S. could not replace Greece’s government because it had been elected by the people. The paper noted that Guilfoyle’s lawyer disputed the description of the conversation.

“The United States values its strategic partnership with Romania, which remains strong across our shared priorities, including energy security and defense burden shifting,” a State Department spokesperson told POLITICO when asked about about Guilfoyle’s reported comments.

Representatives for Guilfoyle declined to comment on the incident.

Romania’s centrist government collapsed in May, when the Social Democrats pulled out of the coalition and joined forces with the far-right opposition to topple Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, throwing one of Europe’s most strategically important countries into turmoil. 

Roiled by the Journal report, opposition parties across the Greek political spectrum called on Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ government to clarify whether the conversation took place as reported.