Rosia Montana

The President of the Romanian National Commission for UNESCO, the Minister of Education, Sorin Cimpeanu, on Tuesday stated that the institution he represents supports the UNESCO effort to ensure equal access to education for all, as a means of developing a democratic society, an inclusive one.

Following weeks of uncertainty in which the Bucharest government considered withdrawing its application for UNESCO protection for Rosia Montana, a former gold mine dating from Roman times, the UN cultural heritage agency declared it a World Heritage site on Tuesday.

The move came as a relief to conservation groups who oppose the resumption of mining in the area.

President Klaus Iohannis welcomed today the inclusion of the Rosia Montana historic mining site to the UNESCO World Heritage List. "I welcome the inclusion of the Rosia Montana mining cultural landscape into the world heritage!

On Sunday, after meeting with the mayors of the communes from Alba County, the most affected by the recent floods, the Prime Minister Florin Citu declared that the people whose households were flooded will receive fixed amounts of money for reconstruction.

Eight years after civil society groups in Romania thwarted a plan to extract gold from the former Roman mine of Rosia Montana, battle has resumed over the question of UNESCO protection.

Prime Minister Florin Citu has not taken any official steps to withdraw the file of Rosia Montana site from registration on the UNESCO heritage list, nor has he submitted any proposal on this topic, the press office of the Government informs on Wednesday.

A living statue dressed in golden clothes and depicting Prime Minister Florin Citu was unveiled in Bucharest on Wednesday in Victoriei Square as part of a protest action staged by Greenpeace Romania amidst Romania's governmental coalition discussing how to manage placing the Rosia Montana site on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.

Prime Minister Florin Citu on Monday said that the governing coalition is seeking solutions in the Rosia Montana case, to have it included in the UNESCO heritage, first of all, and to find out if mining can also be possible. "These are exactly the discussions that we are having in the coalition, let's see what solutions we can find to move forward.

The Romanian Order of Architects (OAR) calls on the Government to continue the procedure for inscribing the Rosia Montana site on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Prime Minister Florin Citu said on Tuesday that some political leaders put words into his mouth about Rosia Montana, adding that the ruling coalition's decisions on this matter will be presented publicly. "I see that some political leaders have put words into my mouth about Rosia Montana. When I have an opinion on the Rosia Montana, I will utter it, of course.