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German Ambassador to Romania Cord Meier-Klodt said on Tuesday that the German minority has always been loyal to and has stood on the Romanians' side, and that for this reason, he thinks, this community is entitled to seek their support when defamatory campaigns are waged in mass media.
The German minority has always been loyal, has stood on the Romanians' side, therefore I believe they are entitled to seek support when - as some of you have noticed - defamatory campaigns with distorted information are run in mass media, shining an inappropriate light on them. This is not about self-defense, but about the support coming from the entire country and I think that in the closing remarks I should thank Secretary of State Ciamba and the committee which, during the talks held yesterday and today, expressed a clear stance on this subject by the joint protocol concluded. In short, we hold close relations, together we engage for a common Europe, Cord Meier-Klodt said.
He made this declaration during a debate organized at his residence on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Romania - Germany Friendship Treaty and of the 20th session of the Romanian-German government committee on the issues of Romania's German ethnics held on Monday and Tuesday.
The German Ambassador in Bucharest said that solidarity is not a one-way street.
Beautiful Romania celebrates next year 100 years since the Great Union. The German minority, both Transylvanian Saxons and Banat Swabians alike, at that time promptly threw their energies under the banner of the Union. The spirit of the Medias manifesto reverberates even today and has been often felt in key moments after 1989, the Ambassador said.
President of the Germans' Democratic Forum of Romania (FDGR) Dr. Paul-Jürgen Porr said that Romania's German community has always been loyal to its homeland, whether this has been the Austro-Hungarian monarchy or the Romanian Kingdom.
We are next talking about the Saxons statement of adhesion in Medias, about the Treaty of Trianon, and this weighs even more in the times of the Socialist Republic of Romania and today. It is the more so troubling and distressing that both the print and electronic media and some newspapers launched at the beginning of the year allegations that we had buildings worth billions returned, even from the Jewish community - which also issued a denial in this regard; it's not the first time, it happened before in 2014 during the presidential campaign, obviously the target isn't us, we are just collateral damage. The first official reaction came only yesterday and today in this committee. [FDGR representative in Parliament] Ovidiu Gant asked in Parliament that the Government take a stance and distances itself from these allegations and calumnies. This did not happen until yesterday, in this committee, added Porr.
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs George Ciamba believes anti-European attitudes like xenophobia and populism must be combated.
"It is very important that today we condemned any malevolent presentation of the German minority in Romania," said Ciamba.
In his opinion, the relationship with the German minority is exemplary. "The relationship with the German minority has always been exemplary and we must honestly admit that we have always referred to it as to an example and a model," George Ciamba added.
Hartmut Koschyk, the Federal Government's Commissioner for matters related to ethnic German resettlers and national minorities, said that the German minority in Romania is very lively and highly active.
It is a living factor of Romanian politics, of your country's civil society, it plays an important role in key areas as a binding bridge to Germany, said Hartmut Koschyk.
