Activist Hails Romania Mining Decision as Victory for ‘People Power’

The region is rich in architectural and cultural heritage, including the most extensive mining system known from the ancient Roman world, remnants of Roman, medieval and modern mining settlements as well as churches belonging to five denominations.

Recognising the value of the site, the International Council on Monuments and Sites, a UNESCO expert advisory body, recommended in 2018 that Rosia Montana be included on the UN cultural agency's list of world heritage sites in danger.

Experts were confident that if Romania completed an application to have Rosia Montana added to the list, UNESCO would give it protected status. Yet on January 22, the Romanian government said it would not file the application by the end-of-month deadline.

It was the latest hitch in a string of delays to an application process that started three years ago. In the end, with just hours to go, the Romanian government reactivated the file on the application.

Locals and activists were not surprised by the government's foot-dragging. In early 2017, a previous Romanian administration had also left it to the last minute to submit the paperwork. Then in the summer of 2018, yet another government (led by the then ruling Social Democratic Party, or PSD) suspended the application.

January 31 of this year was the last moment the government of the National Liberal Party (which has since collapsed) could reactivate the file. 

Why all the reluctance?

In 2013, when Gabriel Resources came close to building the mine, massive protests across Romania forced the government to pull back.

In 2015, Gabriel Resources sued Romania at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, the World Bank's commercial arbitration court, reportedly seeking up to $4...