Welcome to ECMI Romania

The 'Enhancing Minority Governance in Romania' project at ECMI, which began in November 2004, is aimed at promoting a cordial relationship between the Romanian majority and its minority groups, as well as within these minority groups. It will also endeavour to clarify the status of national minorities under Romanian law.

Romania, a country of 22.2 million inhabitants, is the home to many different minority groups, including but not limited to: Albanian, Armenian, Bulgarian, Czech, Croat, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Jewish, Macedonian, Polish, Roma, Russian-Lippovan, Ruthenian, Serbian, Slovak, Tartar, Turkish and Ukrainian.

The purpose of the project is to reduce tensions among these groups and to establish standards of good minority governance in Romania. The project itself has two clear and immediate objectives:

• To support the efforts of the Romanian government and representatives of national minorities to write a law on national minorities to be presented to the Romanian parliament during 2005.
• To train mayors/councillors & youth representatives from minority organisations/NGOs on the project cycle, human rights monitoring cycle and funding issues.

This project will improve inter-ethnic understanding and acceptance through the clarification of the legal status of national minorities, improve stakeholder involvement in the drafting of the new law on national minorities and enhance the awareness of the main political parties in parliament of national minority issues.

Through the law on national minorities (that the project helped to create and is now helping to enact) the minority groups within Romania will have a tool by which to settle a decade old tension laden discussion on status and rights. The will in addition be assured of their social and political inclusion in the future.

You can use this website to read all about the project and to read our publications concerning the project so far. These publications are constantly updated as the project progresses. You can also read the draft law itself, in both English and Romanian. Our linkspage provides numerous resources that will benefit anyone wishing to learn more about Romania, cultural autonomy, the minority issue and draft law. For more information about the project please contact us. For more information about ECMI in general please visit www.ecmi.de.