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Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Catalin Predoiu said on Friday that it is absolutely vital for each of us and for all Romanians everywhere to know who we are, where we come from and where we are heading.
"On 1 December, a great event brings us together, one of the highest significance and importance in the history of our nation: The Day of the Great Union of 1918. And in the times we live in, it is absolutely vital for each of us and for all Romanians everywhere to know who we are, where we come from and where we are heading," Predoiu said in a message on the occasion of Romania's National Day, according to an Interior Ministry press release.
He added that a past of thousands of years, with a huge soulful richness binds Romanians, an extraordinary humanity, dedication in work and in faith.
"They founded the Romanian nation which, through courage, heroism, unity of blood, language and spirit, managed to survive the harsh trials of history. Our provinces - divided by coercive powers, by empires with limitless ambitions and powers - knew how to keep in their hearts the absolutely unique music of the song of longing. Empires fell, the Ottoman, Russian, Austro-Hungarian empires, and we were finally able to fulfil our destiny as a country that achieved the Great Union on 1 December 1918, the sacred celebration of the Romanian nation. I will not insist on the scholars, the church, the politicians to whom we owe the wise up and rise of all Romanians to whom we must remain forever grateful. But I insist on the fact that today the monument that should represent in the consciousness of the new generations our ancestors - to whom we owe what we are - is progressively becoming non-existent," Predoiu said.
He made an appeal in this context: "And my appeal in these moments, to those present, to Romanians throughout the country and in the diaspora, is a solemn appeal to do - and not to leave it to others - everything possible to ensure that the noble foundations on which this nation is built penetrate the hearts and minds of today's children and adolescents, with elegance and discretion - the foundation of our culture, the guarantee of our survival, the moral foundation and the indispensable moral foundation for their future and that of the country. Long live Romania! Many happy returns!"
