Romania is more unevenly developed than before its European integration and currently facing “a demographic cataclysm”, mused NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana, referring to approximately five million Romanians who have left the country since the Communist Revolution of 1989.
These statements were made at a conference on ethics in moments of crisis and deep change organized by the University of Bucharest.
“We are living a paradoxical moment in the contemporary history of Romania. We are, without a doubt, at the best time in the history of this nation. Never, since we have been in these lands, with various forms of state organisation, with various moments of inflection and dangers, was Romania in a better situation – a member of NATO, a member of the European Union, in the end, reconnected, at least institutionally, to the democratic and developed West from which we used to be separated by history, by geography, by the times”, said Geoana.
According to him, “the Romanian course means that, at the moment which is the best in history, when the economy is still growing, we are perhaps more vulnerable than ever”.
“When five million young people leave a country, when in a country there is an unprecedented demographic cataclysm and when trust in institutions, sometimes even in democracy and the national idea seem to be weaker than ever, we have an incredibly complex paradox”, added Geoana.
“All humanity is currently at a time of huge transformation, of unprecedented challenges […] Today, Romania is more unevenly developed than before its European integration. The difference between Bucharest, Cluj, the developed regions and the rest of the country is greater than before its European integration. It is absolutely aberrant. Why? Because we have ourselves applied the ‘winner takes it all’ theory, which I find outdated, of (…) the strongest ones imposing their rule and the others … don’t matter. It’s not ok. And it’s neither a socialist nor a liberal thing; it has nothing to do with classic ideologies, it has to do with civic common sense. (…) It’s caring for the other”, said Geoana.
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