MINELRES: Romania: Ethnic Diversity Briefs, No.34

[MINELRES moderator]

Original sender: Mediafax <divers@mediafax.ro>


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No. 34 / December 2, 2002

DIVERS

- reporting ethnic diversity -

SUMMARY

1. BUCHAREST GIVES UP ROMANIAN CITIZENSHIP BILL, SOME MOLDOVANS PROTEST
2. ISRAEL REFUSES ENTRY TO ROMANIAN ARTIST FOR HIS ALLEGEDLY
ANTI-SEMITIC VIEW
3. LASZLO TOKES DOES NOT GIVE UP TO TRIAL AGAINST UDMR
4. SPECIAL IDs FOR ROMA PEOPLE GOING AT DISCO
5. BOOK ABOUT ETHNIC ALBANIANS FROM BUCHAREST
6. HUNGARY, SLOVAKIA FAIL TO REACH AGREEMENT ON STATUS LAW
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BUCHAREST GIVES UP ROMANIAN CITIZENSHIP BILL, SOME MOLDOVANS PROTEST
BUCHAREST - The Romanian Government last week suspended for six months
some of the provisions of the bill on re-obtaining Romanian citizenship
due to the increase in number of applications received, especially from
citizens from the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. These provisions
enabled any person who has been a Romanian citizen in the past or had
his parents former Romanian citizens to apply for a Romanian passport.
Over August-November 2002 some 13,000 applications for re-obtaining
Romanian citizenship were filed, most of them through envoys.
The Government decision made angry some 200 Moldovans who last protested
in Bucharest as their applications were turned down. "Cold, hunger,
humiliation, months lost in travel and wasted money. I am suffering all
this just to become Romanian again. Is it worth it?" asked Violeta
Verhovetchi, one of the 200 Moldovan citizens who gathered near the
passport bureau to claim the Romanian citizenship their parents or
grandparents had lost. She said she came to Bucharest a week ago and has
waited at the bureau's doorway since then. "I have a paycheck for
asylum, but they refused to receive me. Is that justifiable?"
"We paid all the fees three months ago, I have spent the last paycheck
our family had ... The official gazette is full of names of Chinese and
Arab names, people who have obtained Romanian citizenship. Are they more
Romanian than us?"
Similar accounts were detailed by other protestors. The consensus is
that to obtain Romanian citizenship, a Moldovan needs at least $50.
Legal fees for the application and data processing for the Romanian
citizenship amount to an equivalent of $25-$30. "The rest of money is
necessary for travel, accommodation, meals, and other expenses," said
Dumitru Bobic, explaining that the "other expenses" mean $20, $50 or $70
given as bribes to officials at the initial application stage. "All the
bureaucrats around here demand money, but no one wants to help us. The
Romanian government takes money from us and shuts the door in front of
our noses. "Even the gypsies rob us," said a young woman who refused to
give her name. The passport bureau is located on a street in Bucharest
which is inhabited by mostly Gypsy families. The Gypsies demand 5,000
Romanian lei ($0.15) from applicants to use the toilet, 10,000 lei to
use a chair for half an hour and 50,000 lei to recharge their mobile
phones.
The chief of the immigration bureau had his own point to make: "There is
a general trend among the people outside to overreact and over-dramatize
everything. They have known all about these [legal] provisions since
last week. These stories are fabricated to raise public awareness and to
pressure immigration authorities. "Almost 90 percent of the people
waiting outside the bureau are representatives for other people, and
their suitcases are full of application requests and other documents.
They have made a business out of it," he said. The protestors admit they
have came to apply for citizenship for other people. "But can you
imagine all of us coming here personally? We are helping our family and
friends," an anonymous man justified himself. Another man claimed the
Romanian authorities "hated" Moldovans. "They treat us like animals. We,
who perhaps are better educated than many of them," said an older lady
waiting in line, adding, "I am waiting here for my child and my
husband.". (DIVERS)

ISRAEL REFUSES ENTRY TO ROMANIAN ARTIST FOR HIS ALLEGEDLY ANTI-SEMITIC
VIEW
TEL-AVIV - Romanian citizen Gheorghe Zamfir, a pan-flute virtuoso of
international reputation, was refused entry to Israel on 22 November on
the grounds that he lacked a work permit for the five concerts he was
scheduled to perform, RFE/RL radio reported. Before, Romanian Jews in
Israel had lobbied heavily for Zamfir to be denied entry because of his
alleged anti-Semitic views and denial of the Holocaust in Romania.
Zamfir occasionally publishes ultranationalist articles in the Greater
Romania Party's weekly "Romania Mare." A Romanian Television
correspondent in Israel said Zamfir vowed to hold a public press
conference to distance himself from the opinions attributed to him and
to donate to a fund for Romania's Holocaust survivors. Zamfir refused to
comment on the incident, telling Romanian Television only that he had
been contacted by former Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and by the mayor
of Tel Aviv, adding that he "awaits a clarification" before reacting
publicly. (DIVERS)

LASZLO TOKES DOES NOT GIVE UP TO TRIAL AGAINST UDMR
BUCHAREST - Transylvanian Calvinist Bishop Laszlo Tokes, honorary
chairman of the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR) said
is going to initiate appeal against the decision sentenced into the
action brought in court against UDMR, according to MTI agency. He sued
UDMR in October, considering as illegal the decision made by the Union
Representatives Board (CRU) that is next year to organize the 7th
Congress of UDMR. Tokes demanded by his action to annul this decision
and for the court to compel UDMR to organize internal elections. On
October 25, the Bucharest Court sentenced his action as unsubstantial
and rejected it. According to Tokes, the court's decision is declinable,
as it does not have as basis the UDMR status passed in 1999, but from
1997. (DIVERS)

SPECIAL IDs FOR ROMA PEOPLE GOING AT DISCO
ROMAN - Roma people from Eastern town of Roman will be allowed to access
the discos and the clubs there only based on ID proving good behavior,
local press reported. This measure was asked by the owners of some
discos who, as a result of the latest scandals and violent fights
between Roma people occurred in the units they run, hindered the access
of this ethnicity's representatives. The interdiction yet displeased
part of Roma population in town, especially the young people, who asked
the authorities to solve this matter. (DIVERS)

BOOK ABOUT ETHNIC ALBANIANS FROM BUCHAREST
BUCHAREST - The Cultural Union of Ethnic Albanians in Romania on
Tuesday, November 26, organized at the Museum of Bucharest Municipal the
launch of "The Albanians from Bucharest " book, local press reported.
The author, historian Adrian Majuru, enclosed into the volume excerpts
of the Albanians life in Bucharest from the period after World War two.
Present at the festivity, the Albanian ambassador in Romania, Leonidha
Mertiri, appreciated that this book was written by a Romanian, which
proves once again the friendship relations between the two nations.
(DIVERS)

HUNGARY, SLOVAKIA FAIL TO REACH AGREEMENT ON STATUS LAW
BUDAPEST - Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy last week failed to
convince his visiting Slovak counterpart Mikulas Dzurinda regarding
recently proposed amendments to Hungary's Status Law, RFE/RL news radio
reported. Slovak PM said the law is unacceptable even if it were
amended, as it violates the sovereignty of Slovakia and discriminates
against Slovak citizens. On his part, Medgyessy said the Hungarian
government will not give up the Status Law, and will submit the draft
amendments to parliament for approval. He said Hungary will not be
influenced by the issue when it decides on ratifying Slovakia's NATO
accession, but expressed regret that the two sides could not make any
progress regarding the Status Law. (DIVERS)


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