Letter to the jury for the European Capital of Culture 2021 - Romania
This week the international jury will make its first evaluation of towns and cities of
Romania competing for the title of 'European Cultural Capital' for the year 2021, an
honour which was last bestowed in this country on the town of Sibiu in 2007.
The undersigned nongovernmental organizations are expressing their reserves concerning
the quality of four of the cities that applied for the European title. The main and common
reason is that all four are violating fundamental human rights. This is why we hope our
letter will reach you, the members of the jury, just to let you judge in full knowledge their
applications
Candidate City: Baia Mare
The Baia Mare’s proposal is concluding like this: “the desire to win the nomination to
become European Cultural Capital means a chance to accelerate the development of our
town, in a natural way, an opportunity to overcome our limitations and become a stable
and prosperous cultural pole, a community united in diversity.”
The text is inscribed with the signature of the mayor, Catalin Chereches, accompanied,
naturally, by his portrait. For us, this is an emblematic case of hypocrisy.
The Baia Mare community “united in diversity” has a 1.8 metre wall separating the rest
of the town from blocks housing a majority of the Roma ethnicity. The wall was built
following the mayor’s orders and produced a chorus of protests from human rights
NGOs; the activists filed complaints to the National Council to Combat Discrimination
(NCCD). The mayor has been asked by the NCCD to destroy the wall - but this has not
happened. With the help of students from the art university of nearby city Cluj, who
painted the wall, it has become 'a work of art' and, therefore – the mayor says - cannot be
demolished.
Mayor Chereches has stated that – spurred by the chance of being a Cultural Capital –
more “works of art” will come to this area, which means the expulsion or ghetto-isation
of the poor. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s28vAJiSFUI)
Perhaps this cultural gentrification will also be applied to other 'hubs' of extreme poverty
in the area, as the major has announced he will be “at the head of team of waste
management, I will drive the bulldozer if I'm needed”
Candidate City: Sfantu Gheorghe
A city with a Hungarian-speaking majority in Transylvania, Sfantu Gheorghe has its own
wall, much older, which was built in the 1980s, but survives today, to separate “people”
from “non-people” - meaning “citizens” from “the Roma”, a community in extreme
poverty. The rhetoric of racism is identical with that of mayor Chereches, but the only
difference is that this is expressed more frequently in the Hungarian language.
Candidate City: Cluj-Napoca
In December 2010, the city expelled a community of 76 families, majority Roma, from
the city and resettled them in some specially constructed homes, “social housing”, outside
the city, on the edge of a rubbish dump, a place known as Pata Rât. The decision was
called segregation and racism by many human rights organizations from Romania and
abroad: “racism against the Roma has justified this expulsion, as the majority of people
support the idea of placing the Roma near rubbish” (Stire de Cluj, 17.07.2015).
In addition, the local administration refuses to grant a legal status to these people, which
means, implicitly, they must retain the title of “non-citizens” who do not receive any
rights.
Candidate City: Bucharest
The capital of Romania is also not blemish-free. In January 2010, in the central zone of
Buzesti-Berzei, the city carried out a process of expropriations and expulsions of citizens,
described by NGOs as “savage and law-breaking”.
For three years, during works which expanded the street, houses occupied by 1,000
people were targeted, with 353 expelled from their houses, 93 buildings destroyed
(including historical monuments) including an entire antique district.
The 2016 World Monuments Watch – published by World Monuments Fund - includes
50 At-Risk Cultural Heritage Sites in 36 Countries. It states: “The Romanian capital
of Bucharest—a built environment of great historical, social, and symbolic significance—
is threatened by abandonment and demolition of historic buildings, uncontrolled
development, and inappropriate rehabilitation”.
A major accusation against Bucharest is the exposure to earthquakes. The capital of
Romania is classed as the 10th most at-risk capital in the world and the first in Europe.
Today, in the city, are 186 buildings classified as most at-risk. These buildings house
people and functioning institutions, which are also part of cultural patrimony, the
majority of which were constructed before 1940, and which will collapse in the case of an
earthquake. The renovation of these buildings must be priority number one of any
responsible administration. Local government complains that the responsibility lies with
the building owners. We don't know who is to blame. But one thing is certain – in the
event of an earthquake in the “2021 European Cultural Capital Bucharest”, thousands
will die. We are assisting in premeditated murder.
We haven't inspected the other candidates for the title of European Cultural Capital.
Those above are only those of a greater notoriety.
Due to these crimes, our organizations ask for the elimination of these four cities from the
list of candidates for this status because their local authorities dis-honour European
values.
However Bucharest could become a candidate for European Criminal Capital – for any
year.
Mircea Toma, ActiveWatch
Marian Mandache, Romani Criss
Mihai Bumbes, Militia Spirituala
Șerban Sturdza, Pro Patrimonio