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The EP adopted a resolution asking the Russian Federation to return the national treasure to Romania in full
The European Parliament has Okayed in a historic vote a resolution on Thursday, through which MEPs have unanimously asked that Russia return Romania’s treasure and that the EU executive and other competent European institutions do everything possible to support this approach
The resolution was adopted recognizing Romania’s right to recover its treasure stolen by Moscow or to obtain compensation in exchange for it. The Treasury contains significant amounts of gold, heritage objects, art collections, jewels.
In case of negotiations with Russia, after the end of the war in Ukraine, the European Union could use the document to impose conditions on Moscow.
The debate, attended by the overwhelming majority of Romanian MEPs, represented the first time the issue of Romania’s treasury illegally appropriated by Russia was raised in the European Parliament.
The European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, said in her opening remarks that she was speaking on behalf of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell. “You invited the European Commission to take the floor in relation to the return of Romania’s national treasure by Russia. The treasure was transferred to the tsarist empire for protection (editor note: during WWI), but it was never fully returned to Romania, neither by the USSR nor by the Russian Federation” , the top EU official reminded.
“The European Union is ready to support the Romanian authorities in the full recovery of the treasure if they request it”, emphasized Elisa Ferreira.
However, she warned on the fact that “Russia’s unjustified war against Ukraine led to the suspension of cooperation mechanisms” with Moscow. She reiterated that the war against Ukraine “is a crime and a flagrant violation of international law” and recalled that “the measures against Russia include the largest package of sanctions adopted by the EU”.
The initiator of the resolution, Romanian MEP Eugen Tomac hailed the vote.
“Huge success in the European Parliament! The resolution we initiated is the first official European document by which we explicitly ask Russia to return the illegally seized Treasury. It is a matter of national dignity. Romania cannot and must not accept anything less than the return of the 91.5 tons of gold and the entire Cultural Treasure. I thank my colleagues in the European Parliament for their involvement and support. It meant a lot. I thank, of course, the National Bank of Romania for all the support along this road at the end of which today, for the first time, we have a European Parliament Resolution on the issue of the Romanian Treasury. We are not alone in this endeavor. We have firm European recognition and support. After today’s historic vote, the European Commission will be with Romania and together we will bring the Romanian Treasury home The important thing is not to give up!”, MEP Eugen Tomac wrote on Facebook.
Before the vote, PSD MEP Victor Negrescu also said that the discussion in the plenary of the European Parliament about Romania’s treasure illegally appropriated by Russia is important, because it gives visibility to a subject that the European partners had no knowledge of.
During the First World War, between 1916 and 1917, Romania sent to Tsarist Russia the national treasure (which included significant amounts of gold, heirlooms, art collections, jewels, archives), to be protected in the event of the occupation of the national territory . After the installation of the communist regime in power, Russia seized the treasure and refused to return it, a large part of the values remain unreturned until today, states the EP on its website in the presentation of this item on the agenda of the plenary session.