BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania's prime minister says he will step in to find a solution to a bitter dispute raging at the Romanian Opera after meeting international ballerina Alina Cojocaru.

The controversy became public after the opera house's artistic director Johan Kobborg, a Danish ballet dancer and choreographer, resigned, citing pressure from interim managers.

Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos met Cojocaru, who is Kobborg's fiancee, Thursday for talks about the situation, which heated up after some opera employees publicly shouted "out with the foreigners!" saying Kobborg was paid too much.

Ciolos said the opera needed quality artists and shows "whether they are from Romania or elsewhere." Culture Minister Vlad Alexandrescu appoints the opera's managers.

Cojocaru says she won't dance Manon this weekend and claims there is an atmosphere of "fear and intimidation."