Gov't: PM hasn't taken any official steps to withdraw Rosia Montana candidacy file from UNESCO

Prime Minister Florin Citu has not taken any official steps to withdraw the file of Rosia Montana site from registration on the UNESCO heritage list, nor has he submitted any proposal on this topic, the press office of the Government informs on Wednesday. The same source states that the statements that were said to belong to the Prime Minister on this issue are false, while the topic was discussed "strictly at the level of the governing coalition." "Prime Minister Florin Citu has not submitted any proposal on this topic, nor has he taken any official steps to withdraw the UNESCO World Heritage Site registration file, in the case of Rosia Montana. Therefore, the statements that were said to belong to the Prime Minister regarding a decision related to the withdrawal of the file of Rosia Montana meant for registration with the UNESCO heritage are false. We also mention that the issue was strictly discussed at the level of the governing coalition. In this context, the Romanian Government calls for observance of the accuracy of the information," the press office of the Executive said. The clarifications, adds the same source, come in the context of the information "launched in the public space by Greenpeace" regarding a possible withdrawal of the file from UNESCO and the involvement of the Prime Minister in this approach. A living statue dressed in golden clothes and depicting Prime Minister Florin Citu was unveiled in Bucharest on Wednesday in Victoriei Square as part of a protest action staged by Greenpeace Romania amidst Romania's governmental coalition discussing how to manage placing the Rosia Montana site on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. Cristian Neagoe, Greenpeace Romania activist, claimed on this occasion that the hesitations of the Citu Government "who is now wavering whether or not to drop the Rosia Montana file" only "fuel" the court case that Gabriel Resources filed against Romania in Washington. "We are talking about 4.4 billion euros that could be lost under the same pretext that the Dancila government used in 2018 for the suspension of the same UNESCO file, namely that getting Rosia Montana on the world heritage list could mean Romania losing the trial. That is a false argument, (...) even a lie, because Rosia Montana is a historical site, protected by Romanian law since 1992, and UNESCO comes with extra legal protection, money for restoration, placing Rosia Montana on all the tourist maps of the world (...)," said Neagoe. AGERPRES (RO - editor: Catalin Alexandru, EN - author: Cristina Zaharia, editor: Adina Panaitescu)

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