Letter to UNESCO in English from La Maison Roumaine, Paris

(Image source) Alexandre Herlea's letter to UNESCO's CEO dated 14th October concerning Rosia Montana's inclusion on the World Heritage List has been translated into English so that it may be shared yet further still and understood by those who do not speak French. Mr Herlea is President of La Maison Roumaine here in Paris.

 LA MAISON ROUMAINE                                   

Alexandre HERLEA, Président

Dear Ms. Bokova,

I address this letter to you concerning Rosia Montana’s inclusion on the World Heritage List – a site in Romania which is today under serious threat from RMGC’s mining project. I write as President of La Maison Roumaine, the Romanian community’s oldest association in Paris and listed in France as a learned society, as well as on behalf of numerous other associations and ONGs both Romanian and otherwise (Alburnus Maior, ARA, ARIN, Fundaţia Culturală Roşia Montană, ICOMOS Roumanie, OAR, OVR International, OVR Solidarités, Pro Do Mo, Pro Patrimonio Foundation, Pro Patrimonio France, RPER France, RPER Roumanie, Salvaţi Bucureştiul), who have voiced their wish to be associated with this appeal to UNESCO.

Romania’s entire civil society demands that its national authorities urge the Commitee of World Heritage to include the whole of Rosia Montana’s mining site on the World Heritage List. In other words, to submit an updated Tentative List to UNESCO with a request for the inclusion on the World Heritage List of this valuable site of cultural patrimony which pre-dates Roman antiquity.

Experts with no financial implication to RMGC’s mining project have unanimously agreed that this heritage has exceptional worth for both Europe and humanity as a whole. Numerous reports and resolutions from prestigious cultural and scientific institutions have highlighted this too, amongst them, that of the Romanian Academy and several other institutions with close links to UNESCO, namely ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites), IUHPS (International Union of History and Philosophy of Science) and ICOHTEC (International Committee for the History of Technology), as well as those from IUA (International Union of Architects), CTHS (Committee des Travaux Historiques et Scientifiques), ORA (Order of Romanian Architects), etc. The last resolution carried out by ICOMOS concerning Rosia Montana’s mining site is dated 6th October 2013. Furthermore, Europa Nostra, the Voice of Cultural Patrimony in Europe which comprises of more than 400 organisations and associations, added Rosia Montana to its list of 7 most endangered European cultural sites in May of this year. 

I address this letter to you as certain highly placed Romanians in powerful positions would like us to believe that it is UNESCO’s procedures which lie at the heart of Rosia Montana’s non-inclusion to the World Heritage List. It would be deeply appreciated if you could remind the Romanian authorities that updating the Tentative List, even if it must be done with the participation of a wide range of partners including site managers, local and regional authorities, local communities, ONGs and other interested parties is the duty of each State, of each government. The Romanian government is the sole body responsible for the submission of Romania’s updated Tentative List to UNESCO. It could be followed by an inscription file which would then be treated (providing it is complete) accordingly.

With great faith in UNESCO, we hope that your help and support will enable us, finally, to save Rosia Montana - a site of exceptional heritage.

Yours sincerely,

Alexandre Herlea

Professor Emiritus

Former minister of European Integration for the Romanian government