International Roma Day on 8 April is a key date to mark Romani culture made more significant in Romania since the passing of last year’s landmark legislation there to combat hate-speech against the Roma – the first law of its kind in Europe Nonetheless, racist slurs and hate speech spiked on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic with some people going as far as blaming the Roma - who are Romania’s largest ethnic minority - for the spread of the virus “Hate-speech is especially present in times of crisis,” said Csaba Ferenc Asztalos, President of the National Council for Combating Discrimination Romania’s anti-discrimination and equality body to gain or to maintain economic or political power A former member of parliament who spearheaded the law to protect the basic human rights of Romania’s Roma minority “This law is to punish the dehumanization of human beings — when people aren't treated as humans anymore,” Mr “There are manifestations of hatred that are based on the perception that Roma are not actually human beings you need a legal mechanism to defend our fundamental right Living standards in Romania have been rising rapidly in recent years with some of the highest economic growth rates in the European Union Yet many Roma people are still having to endure social and economic exclusion in addition to hate speech and discrimination All around Romania there are signs of Roma people living off the grid in places where social services and utilities are scarce or nonexistent “Lack of infrastructure brings bad education who has devoted much of his life to changing the narrative about Roma people all the resources are ending,” whenever you approach a Roma community These inequities have been hard-wired into Romanian society for hundreds of years Roma were slaves in the 14th century in Romania And that's the history of Roma for the next 500 years We've been slaves for 500 years and nothing else,” Mr along with many other efforts by human rights defenders aim to address some of the injustices of the past curb hate speech and discrimination in its current manifestations “I had to fight what the history brought into my life and the fact that to be born a Roma woman in the Romanian society is not the winning ticket,” said Alina Serban and the first person in her family to not only finish high school She is also the first Roma woman ever in Romania to earn acclaim as a theatre and film director whose plays have made the stage at the Romanian National Theatre said that she has been driven to succeed in part because of the need to represent her community but that being open about her roots is a double-edged sword.  I knew you guys would behave this way,’” Ms insisting that anyone else would be given a second chance it is virtually impossible for anti-gypsy sentiments not to come out,” said Daniel Vasile pointing out that what begins as hate speech can easily end in violence to communicate with them,” said Andreea Dragomir who was roughed up by security guards in a hypermarket in her native Brasov in 2020 Her case made the headlines after a national news organization ran her story on the Observator Antena1 Romania channel Dragomir said that she was suspected of shoplifting and surveillance cameras cleared her of wrongdoing “After that followed a series of very ugly offences to me Aggressions such as these are what spurred the legislative action “We need to define these acts which are based on racism and hatred against the Roma To regulate and sanction of these acts as offences,” Mr Human right defenders like Ciprian Necula and Csaba Ferenc Asztalos do not believe that the legislation will be especially effective in uprooting the deep-lying prejudices against the Roma They argue that what is needed primarily is more education - together with dialogue between communities – to bring about fundamental changes both in cultural attitudes and social acceptance “You've been educated in a way that you don't even know that you are racist “I don't say that you should be blamed or convicted for that Asked whose responsibility it is to educate people in Romania Serban had this to say: “It is not up to me to educate the people Warnings about the high levels of hate speech demonizing Roma people have been issued by UN human rights experts, including the Special Rapporteur on minority issues They have also called for more education about the killing of close to half a million Roma people in the Holocaust “And if we if we say we don't have a problem and that the Roma are the problem and situations like Holocaust may definitely happen again.” Preventing the repetition of World War II’s tragedies is on many people’s minds these days “My biggest reason to continue is the light in the eyes of people that see me at work which often carries messages of social justice to combat various forms of discrimination UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, warned on Wednesday that “racism and xenophobia are rising sharply”, highlighting violent attacks on Jewish sites and antisemitic incidents reported in many countries the UN chief said on Friday at a dedicated meeting against what he referred to as a catalyst that “normalizes hate Romania is going through its best agricultural year in history Record production of wheat and maize places agricultural turnover close to EUR 8 billion KeysFin experts say in an analysis of business developments in the sector Data from the Agriculture Ministry shows that this year’s wheat production is more than 200,000 tonnes higher than last year while maize would be between 14.5 and 15 million tonnes compared to just 11.8 million tons to be harvested in France This means that Romania will take over the crown of the largest European maize producer according to the estimates of the General Association of Maize Producers (AGPM) The country also has a good production for barley According to KeysFin analysts, spectacular performance in the agricultural sector is due to major investments in the sector. ”Significant investments have been made in optimizing production flows from using efficient seeds to streamlining and upgrading crop maintenance and mechanized harvesting Romanian agriculture has taken huge steps to modernization and the effects are seen in growing crops from year to year,” KeysFin analysts show agriculture businesses increased by 20.7 percent in 2017 compared to 2013 and by 6.8 percent compared to 2016 and by 2018 it is estimated to exceed the level of RON 36 billion ”Excellent production results for wheat and maize would make a significant contribution to this record, but unfortunately, there were major problems in the livestock sector, where swine fever has significantly affected the affairs of producers and distributors,” experts say. it is certain that the interest for agriculture is growing among investors The proof is that the number of companies increased by more than 7 percent compared to 2013 to 17,246 1,450 new companies were set up in the first 7 months of 2018 (a 27 percent advance over the same period in 2017) 33 percent more than in the first months of 2017 ”Romanian agriculture is in the process of consolidation, as many mergers and acquisitions have taken place in the market during the last 2-3 years. They are mainly foreign investors who have taken over large areas of land and farms, the logistics support that allowed the development of these record crops, despite drought problems,” said the consultants. The number of employees in agriculture increased by 6 percent compared to 2013 to 85,400 but decreased by 2 percent compared to 2016 the average cost per employee grew much faster than labor productivity by 63.4 percent versus 2013 and 18 percent versus 2016 Labor productivity in this sector marked last year a 14 percent gain over 2013 and 9 percent more than in 2016 the largest businesses in Romanian agriculture are in the counties of Timis (RON 2.85 billion) Buzău and Satu Mare with business of RON 1.6 billion each The top of the growers is led by Agro-Chirnogi SA with a turnover of RON 880.6 million in 2017 The company is followed by Promat Comimpex SRL (RON 541.5 million) Agricost SA (RON 359.2 million) and Wine Solutions Network SRL (RON 284.2 million) followed by Transavia SA with RON 531.5 million Agrisol International SRL (RON 291.5 million) Avicola Buzau SA (RON 264.3 million) and Avicarvil SRL (RON 159.3 million) We use cookies for keeping our website reliable and secure providing social media features and to analyse how our website is used.