Press release
regarding the visit to Roşia Montană planned by the Permanent Commission for the Relation to UNESCO of the Chamber of Deputies and Senate

Following the initiative of the Permanent Commission for the Relation to UNESCO of the Chamber of Deputies and Senate to organize a working visit to Roşia Montană, announced in the press release from June 25th, and scheduled for August 20th,
The organisations we represent, The Romanian Chamber of Architects, the "Architecture. Restoration. Archaeology" Association, ICOMOS Romania and the ProPatrimonio Foundation, express their disagreement to the superficial, unprofessional and biased manner in which the problem of the cultural heritage of outstanding value of Roşia Montană is treated, as read in the details of this visit.

1. The announced context of the visit
In presenting the motivation of the visit, the commission shows that the meeting is planned in the context of the existence of certain initiatives regarding the inclusion of Roşia Montană on the UNESCO tentative list.
We wish to recall that those initiatives, drawn quite some time ago (see annex), addressed to the relevant authorities and left with no answer, belong to the organisations we represent. In this context, a discussion on the subject of the inclusion of Roşia Montană in the World Heritage in absence of the organisations which have centred their action on the research and rescue of the cultural heritage of Roşia Montană and which are responsible for the initiatives mentioned briefly in the visit announcement is unprofessional.
We remind that our initiatives, to protect and enhance the heritage of Roşia Montană by its inscription to the World Heritage List, have received the support of national and international scientific community, have been validated by the National Commission for Monuments through the unanimous vote of their members, in 2011, and have received a wide public adhesion (over 150.000 signatories during the latest campaign on this subject, in 2011).

2. Aim of the visit
The announced subject of the meeting - the mining project of the Roşia Montană Gold Corporation - cannot be considered a legitimate subject of an honest and professional discussion on the heritage of the site and on World Heritage. By definition cultural heritage makes the object of general public interest and cannot be subordinated to a narrow private interest, such as the mentioned mining project. A discussion on the state of cultural heritage at Roşia Montană can only take place in view of fulfilling the legal duties of protecting and enhancing this heritage, and not in the context of a mining project which entails its definitive destruction.
It is also stated in the announcement published by the mass-media that the visit aims at "assessing on site which is the state of cultural heritage at Roşia Montană". We emphasise that a discussion on the state of the site's cultural heritage cannot take place in absence of the professional organisations which are running sustained actions of research, protection and conservation of the built heritage of Roşia Montană, while the mining operator is responsible for the demolition of over 150 houses in the town and of many others in the neighbouring villages.
Thus, the aim of the visit, as presented in the official announcement, results to be that of validating a private destructive project, and the meeting appears as (another) derailed, propagandistic action of state authorities in the attempt to kick-start the RMGC mining project, against the country's laws.

3. Place of meeting
The place chosen for the discussions - the Old Town Hall, a valuable public edifice conveyed by local authorities to the private use of the mining company - expresses directly the direction of the action taken by the parliamentary commission. We expect from a state institution to organise such meetings at its own headquarters or on public ground, not on the territory of a private company interested in destroying the area.

In conclusion we denounce the action of the commission, as it is characterized by the announcement, to be an action of manipulation and of legitimization of the destruction of the cultural heritage of universal value at Roşia Montană.
We demand that the commission, if it is to gather information and learn about the solutions by which Roşia Montană may be included in the World Heritage and develop starting from its outstanding cultural and natural resources, organise professional, veritable working meetings with representative professional organisations and assumes the action lines which it has affirmed since 2010, when it stated the following:
"The permanent joint commission for the relation to UNESCO of the Chamber of Deputies and Senate commits to support the inclusion of the site of Roşia Montană on the tentative list, by all means at its disposal".

Şerban Ţigănaş
President of the Romanian Chamber of Architects
Dr. Monica Mărgineanu Cârstoiu
President of the "Architecture. Restoration. Archaeology" Association
Dr. Sergiu Nistor
President of ICOMOS Romania
Şerban Cantacuzino
President of the ProPatrimonio Foundation

Annex:
- Formal request for the inscription of the mining cultural landscape of Roşia Montană on Romania's Tentative List for the World Heritage, drawn by ARA and registered at the Ministry for Culture under no. 1637/27.04.2010:
http://www.simpara.ro/files/Cerere_27.04.2010_FR.pdf
- Background note regarding the universal value of Roşia Montană mining site, drawn by ARA:
http://www.simpara.ro/GB/UK-376.htm
- Background note regarding the universal value of Roşia Montană mining site, drawn by ARA, drawn by ARA on the Tentative List form:
http://www.simpara.ro/files/dosar%20tentativ%20list_27.04.2010_FR.pdf
- Press release by the Joint Permanent Commission for the Relation to UNESCO of the Chamber of Deputies and Senate from November 30, 2010:
http://www.cdep.ro/pls/parlam/structura.co?idc=97&cam=0&leg=2008&pag=evn_12010&prn=1