On 28 February, the first meeting of the year of the National Council of the Romanian National Minority in Serbia was held at the “Butoarcă” House in Vršac. It was a constructive and unique session, with the majority of decisions adopted unanimously.
The agenda included: Confirmation of the Executive Council’s decisions; Adoption of the National Council’s statistical report for 2019; Financial and activity reports of the Press and Publishing House “Libertatea” for 2019; Activity program and financial plan of the Press and Publishing House “Libertatea” for 2020; Financial and activity reports of I.C.R.V. for the period 1 January – 31 December 2019; Financial plan and activity program of I.C.R.V. for 2020; Decision to open the CNMNR office in Kladovo; and Miscellaneous. The agenda was supplemented with Stevan Mihailov’s proposal regarding the restitution of the “Luceafărul” building in Vršac.
After adopting the minutes of the 28 December 2019 meeting with a majority of 16 votes, debates followed regarding the telephone meeting of 17 February 2020. The minutes of the telephone meeting were adopted with 14 votes.
Regarding the first item – Confirmation of the Executive Council’s decisions – President Magdu stated that since the meeting was convened, the Executive Council adopted an additional decision granting a positive opinion on Romanian-language media projects submitted to the Ministry of Culture and Information’s co-financing competition. The National Council’s statistical report for 2019 was adopted by a majority vote. The accounting balance and financial report will be adopted at the next meeting.
The financial and activity reports of the Press and Publishing House “Libertatea” for 2019, the activity program and financial plan for 2020, as well as the financial and activity reports of I.C.R.V. for 2019, and the financial plan and activity program for 2020, and the decision to open the CNMNR office in Kladovo were all adopted unanimously.
Regarding the CNMNR decision to halt the auction sale of the “Luceafărul” building in Vršac, Stevan Mihailov explained: “On multiple occasions, the National Council has been in contact with Serbian and Romanian authorities. As you know, the agenda of the joint commission includes the restitution of collective properties. The Romanian state is closely monitoring and is very interested in the restitution of the ‘Luceafărul’ building. Mr. Daniel Magdu has contacted the competent ministry. We have received assurances from Serbian authorities that there is goodwill to halt the auction in the first phase. There have been criticisms why the process did not continue in Strasbourg. The Romanian community in Serbia and the National Council have submitted the restitution file. All legal steps in Serbia have been followed. The main challenge is that, legally, we cannot prove who the rightful heir is, so the solution is for the government to appoint a legal heir. Meetings with Belgrade authorities are scheduled in the coming days. Such a decision would greatly help our efforts.”
After several debates, the CNMNR decision to halt the auction sale of the “Luceafărul” building in Vršac was adopted unanimously.
Following the meeting, President Daniel Magdu stated: “I am pleased that today we reached a consensus and voted unanimously to halt the ‘Luceafărul’ House. This does not mean it will be restituted tomorrow, but the first step to stop the auction has been taken. We must now make a joint effort to find the best solution in discussions with the Serbian state, relevant institutions, and, of course, with Romania, in the interest of our ethnic community. Furthermore, the financial plan and activity report of the Press and Publishing House ‘Libertatea’ and those of the Cultural Institute of Romanians in Vojvodina, as well as the 2019 accounting balances, 2020 financial plans, and activity reports were adopted unanimously. Therefore, the National Council does not interfere in editorial policy or the activities of the Cultural Institute. We want these institutions to operate according to the law and ethical standards.”
Mariana STRATULAT