POST-REVOLUTION ROMANIA, 1990: 30 years since creation of the Union of the Ukrainians of Romania

The Union of the Ukrainians of Romania (UUR) was established on December 29, 1989 and received the status of legal entity on February 14, 1990, according to the civil decision of the the Bucharest District 1 Court, shows the work ''Dictionar al partidelor si coalitiilor politice si al uniunilor etnice din Romania'' (Dictionary of Romania's political parties and coalitions as well as ethnic unions) published by ROMPRES (1993). UUR is an organization with an ethnic, non-governmental and non-profit profile, with legal personality acquired under Law no. 246/2005, with full autonomy, which carries out its activity in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and of the laws in force in Romania, of its status, as well as with the international documents regarding the rights of national minorities. At the same time, UUR is a parliamentary representative organization of the Ukrainian community and is part of the Council of National Minorities in Romania, and through its publications, it is also a member of the Press Association of the National Minority in Romania. According to Article 62 of the Romanian Constitution and the provisions of the electoral laws of Romania, the UUR is an organization assimilated with political parties and organizations. UUR's goals are to harmoniously collaborate with the majority population, with the other minorities in Romania, as well as preserving the Ukrainians' national traditions and customs. The logo of the organization includes an open book and a flaming torch above it. The first Congress of the UUR was held in Bucharest on April 27-29, 1990, attended by 150 delegates and almost 50 guests. Stefan Tcaciuc, interim president until the date of the congress, was elected president for a four-year term. On the same occasion, it was decided that the UUR should have five county organizations, as follows: the Banat Region, Bucharest and its surroundings, Maramures, Bukovina and Dobrogea. Each of the five counties had its presidency, elected by secret ballot, the county presidents also holding the office of vice president of the UUR. The National Conference of the UUR was due to take place once every two years, the first time being scheduled on April 25-26, 1992. In 1991, the UUR became a member of the World Congress of Free Ukrainians based in Toronto, Canada. Currently, the UUR is also a member of the European Congress of Ukrainians, the Ukrainian Universal Coordination Council and the Ukrainian Liaison Office ("Ukraine - The World" Association). Since its creation, the UUR official newspapers have been "Nas Holos" ("Our Voice") and "Ukrainskei Visnek" ("Ukrainian Courier"). The first is a literary magazine, and the second can be considered a spokesperson of the UUR. Other publications supported by the UUR are "Vilne Slovo" and "Ukrainian echoes", according to uur.ro. The UUR was represented in the Romanian Parliament by Stefan Tcaciuc (born January 13, 1936, in Danilea commune, Suceava county; deceased July 27, 2005, Bucharest) in the 1990-1992, 1992-1996, 2000-2004 legislatures and part of the 2004-2008 legislature. After his demise, he was replaced by deputy Stefan Buciuta, who was also part of the 2008-2012 legislature. In his turn, Ion Marocico was the UUR deputy in the 2012-2016 legislature. From 2016 to the present, the UUR deputy has been Nicolae Miroslav-Petretchi, who is also the Union's leader, according to uur.ro. According to the 2011 census, as many as 50,900 ethnic Ukrainians live in Romania. Of these, over 32 thousand live in the northern region of Romania, especially in the counties of Maramures and Satu Mare. About six thousand can be found in Suceava and Botosani counties, and in Timis and Caras-Severin counties there are over eight thousand. About one thousand five hundred ethnic Ukrainians live in Tulcea and Galati counties, informs romania.mfa.gov.ua.AGERPRES(Research - Horia Plugaru, editor: Liviu Tatu; EN - author: Simona Iacob, editor: Maria Voican)