What have the minorities contributed to the development of Romania in the last 100 years?

The question of the title is answered by the minority organizations participating in the DRI (Department for Interethnic Relations) project M2018: In the project titled Centenary in the diversity of national minorities and intercultural dialogue. On behalf of DRI leader Enikő Laczikó, we found out that the campaign is primarily intended to facilitate the communication of Romanian communities and gives the chance to know the culture of the 20 minorities in the country.

“Last year, I noticed that various institutions of the country are preparing to celebrate and organize the centenary to present the values of the country. We considered that we should also contribute to this value story, “said Enikő Laczikó, Secretary of State: Centenary in the Diversity of National Minorities and Intercultural Dialogue on the Dissemination of the Project. She explained that the title marks simultaneously the centennial year, the twenty minority groups in the country and the official holidays of the national minorities on 18^th December.

The role of 100-year-old ethnic minorities in Romania is presented in an online campaign, which is currently launched on the DRI website and Facebook page, and related events will be added during the year. Through this project, they aim to address minority societies, but not only. “It is not certain that the Ukrainians are familiar with the prominent personalities of Serbs or Hungarians on the Greeks” – explained Laczikó.

Through this project, DRI wants to promote social equality and harmonious coexistence, demonstrating cultural diversity. The campaign aims to attract attention: it is time to celebrate and live together our differences.

About what is the campaign?

The project involves organizations of the National Council for Minorities. The DRI leader said it was the easiest to address them because the agency had direct contact with these organizations, from which the initiators requested the following:

• Identify five remarkable personalities from the community that are believed to have contributed to Romania’s development;
• identify phrases in their own language that have been incorporated into Romanian
• to name and present a community of “ambassador of diversity” who has done much in the last twenty or thirty years to create a real dialogue.

Of course, there are more than five personalities in each community who have actively contributed to the country’s development, but there are eligibility criteria that are needed to properly present these people. In addition, 100 such important people will be briefly presented, and this figure is symbolic for the centennial year, explains Enikő Laczikó.

She also explained the importance of the expressions, which would be the fact that not only the minorities have this life together, but also most of the country, “in an acceptable or unacceptable form” they took expressions of minorities from Romanian and vice versa.

Data collection has begun since December and lasts throughout the year – it has informed us of the DRI leader. Minorities will be presented in random order on the institution’s website and on Facebook page in Romanian. According to interest, it might be possible in the future to have a separate website, says Enikő Laczikó.

She added that the PONT Group was a partner in the project and thanked the representatives of the group for the project. According to the plans in the future – within the cultural heritage – the patrimony of the minorities will be introduced into the campaign.

Is Romania a “model country”?

I asked Ms. Laczikó Enikő that the campaign will illustrate how Romania is a “model country” for minority issues. Being introduced in the project that minorities have and now have the opportunity to create value.

“First of all, we need to clarify that M2018 is a niche action. This also means that the collection and promotion of this data is not at the initiative of an institution of the majority society at the ICN. the centenary is so, according to our findings, these are the values of the minority community, but our other values are largely unknown societies, “added the state secretary.

At the same time, he also stressed that it is a mistake to believe that minorities have the opportunity to present their valuable values and to make their own decisions, these facts definitively represent the value of the country as a model.

“This is not interpreted in this way even abroad. These things are just potential. The main question at the moment is the level at which the political environment allows our decisions to apply in reality, that our rights not only exist on paper but also in real life, that our values become known and recognized, that they do not remain just some data on a flyer. In fact, these are the most important points in the existence of a model, but these things still work. “- the secretary said.

In his opinion, the Bureau of Ethnic Relations, in its campaigns and programs, tries in 2018 to achieve the values and interests of minorities among the important issues of political relations, because only in this way can long-term achievements be achieved.

Source: Maszol