The people of Rosia Montana, Romania, through the village NGOs Pro Rosia Montana and Pro Dreptatea wish the European Commission to know the following:

 

We, the people of Rosia Montana, wish to express our appreciation for the stand taken by the Committee for Industries and Services of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, which has rejected a proposed ban on cyanide use in mining and has instead sided with the EU Directive governing mining waste.  We are disappointed to report that groups opposed to the Rosia Montana mining project – a project that is designed to follow the EU law – continue to attack the project, urging Romania's legislators to turn their back on EU law.

 

The debate in Committee for Industries and Services was a matter of life and death for our village, as the mining project at Rosia Montana is our only hope for a better life.  We thank the members of the Commission who understood that the right course for Romania is to follow EU standards on mining matters.

 

For years, the opposition to the Rosia Montana Project said they could not trust Romania's government, and that we should listen to the EU.  Now, when Romanian officials elect to follow EU rules – rules that clearly allow the controlled use of cyanide in mining – the opposition finds that inconvenient. 

 

We can see now that the organizations opposing the Rosia Montana Project will do and say whatever they wish, no matter what the law says, or the truth may be.  We wish to bring their actions to the attention of the European Commission, knowing that our village – Roºia Montanã – and our organizations – Pro Roºia Montana and Pro Dreptatea – are proud that Romania is a member of the European Union.

 

We are happy to have had the opportunity to participate in the three debates of the Committee for Industries and Services. As such, we gave our input on the cyanide ban proposal. We were pleasantly surprised by the professionalism of the majority of the Committee members, who understood the need of development of mining in Romania, and also understood the opportunities to be created through implementation of Rosia Montana Gold Corporation project.

 

We think that in mining, like in other Romanian industries, private investments should start and continue, because that will give us an example of a job “done by the book” that respects Romanian and international legislation. And why not make the most of Romania’s membership in the European Union and align with EU legislation? Aligning is the only way for our country to develop to Western countries’ standards, not by opposing investment and development.

 

We are convinced that when the bill will go to the plenum of Chamber of Deputies, the deputies will vote as they did in the Committee for Industries and Services, i.e. for mining continuity in Romania – of course, by respecting the legislation and with very close monitoring of mines. And we would like to see this position adopted also by our Members of the European Parliament, for the good of the people that voted to be represented by them.

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