GREAT BRITAIN--THE ADOPTIONS CIRCUS

Article from Jurnalul National Nov. 11, 2006

GREAT BRITAIN--THE ADOPTIONS CIRCUS

At a time when a part of the British press is relaxing in its treatment of the situation of Romanian immigrants who will "assault" the doors of Britain after January 1, 2007, another part of the London press is preoccupied with a different issue which is just as delicate -- international adoptions.

Without even remembering that the moratorium of 2001 forbid international adoptions from Romania under pressure from the EU, the Daily Telegraph published yesterday the story of a young man who grew up in Great Britain after he was adopted from an orphanage many years ago.

SHOCKING

Petrescu Peabody, age 19, was actually adopted 10 years ago by a British family and told the Europarliamentarians about the miserable conditions in the orphanages in Romania. He asked for the Europarliamentarians' support for re-opening international adoptions from Romania. The boy "was nearly dead when he was delivered from one of the most notorious orphanages in Romania and taken to Great Britain." He had lived his early years in an infected bed which was soaked in urine. He could not speak nor walk and he had hearing problems. He said, "It is shocking to think that there are still thousands of children in institutions in Romania.

PRESSURES

The article published by the Daily Telegraph was, of course, pleasing to the United States and to France who repeatedly warned that Bucharest's decision to forbid international adoptions would punish the approximately 76,000 children currently in orphanages. Vice-President for the European Commission, Franco Frattini, maintained that the Commission would support the Romanian authorities in their current legislation because the results of it are visible.

CAVADA AND GIBAULT CONFUSE ROMANIAN ORPHANS WITH GOODS

From Adevarul -- November 10, 2006

CAVADA AND GIBAULT CONFUSE ROMANIAN ORPHANS WITH GOODS

by Dana Filipescu

Several europarliamentarians are desperately trying to re-ignite the international scandal regarding the situation of orphaned children in Romania and the scandal regarding the re-opening of international adoptions. Yesterday in Brussels, Europarliamentarians Jean Marie Cavada and Claire Gibault held a long public conference which included the European press. The announced theme of the conference was "A European Policy Regarding Adoption". Instead, they concentrated on the issue of re-opening international adoptions of Romanian children. The organizers of the conference believed that the moratorium which stopped international adoptions and which was imposed upon Romania by the European Parliament, is "foolish stupidity". These two Europarliamentarians had invited Franco Frattini, the vice-president of the European Commission, to speak. He spoke about the progress made by Romania with regard to the situation of abandoned children and also about the possibility of some recommendations on the part of the European Union concerning adoptions within EU territory. Theodora Bertzi said, "Romania was backed into a corner," and was presented as being in a situation which was painful and sad regarding the orphan children from Romania and this was used as a reason for re-opening international adoptions. A film was presented by ITN, which showed some old footage of the Ungureni orphanage which was, in fact, closed in 2001. Another tactic which was absolutely unusual, was that the two Romanian officials present at the conference, Theodora Bertzi and Bogdan Panait, were not allowed to be on the platform. They were allowed to give their point of view at 5:00 with the closing of the conference coming at 5:50 p.m. The French Europarliamentarian Cavada, was very tense and repeatedly made some extremely grave accusations toward the Romanian authorities. He believes that they lie and give false reports as well as threatened journalists with lawsuits if they make even the smallest reference to international adoptions in a favorable light.

In addition to this, another completely unusual action for a conference of Europarliamentarians was to ask Roelie Post to leave the conference room because she "had become aggressive toward a little girl from a Romania orphanage". Roelie Post is a permanent functionary who has worked at the European Commission for 23 years and who for the last eight years has dealt with files concerning orphaned children from Romania. She maintains that she was merely trying to speak to the little girl who was crying. She said that she had to notify the Belgian police and the security forces of the European Commission about the intimidation and harassment that she received from representatives of the international adoptions lobbies. Theodora Bertzi declared, "I believe that they want to re-open adoptions from Romania because the corruption involved in this system is only dormant and has not been completely eradicated. I believe that it is injurious to compare international adoptions with the free movement of people, services and goods. We have lost track of tens of thousands of adopted children. To date, the number is approximately 30,000 children from 1990 - 2001."

This is one of the comments to this article:

Comment by George Enescu

"Bertzi is Delirious"

Isn't it in fact Bertzi who is always speaking about the export of children as goods? And now all of a sudden it's an injurious expression? It is plain that she got made because the truth was told. And especially since the Romanian press abounds with horrible stories about the treatment of children in Romania. But why is she so upset that they lost track of 30,000 children who were adopted abroad? Doesn't Mrs. Bertzi know that when a child is adopted in another county he receives the citizenship of that country? What does Mrs. Bertzi really want? Does she want Romania to spy on these children in their adoptive families? I think that her fury at not being given an important place at the conference has blinded her. You know, she has become used to so many praises from false admirers......

UN calls for EU helP on Roma children

UN calls for EU help on Roma children

06.03.2007 - 09:29 CET

By Helena Spongenberg

Roma children in south-eastern Europe are facing serious discrimination, social exclusion and disproportional poverty, according to a new UN report. The author calls on the EU to help improve the situation.

The report from UNICEF – the UN's children's fund – found that Roma, Sinti and traveller's children in south-eastern Europe are facing "human rights abuses on a large scale".

The children "remain invisible" because they do not have birth certificates and therefore do not have access to the social agencies that ensure they have basic health-care and education. As many as one million Roma children in south-eastern Europe are unaccounted for in official statistics, said Gordon Alexander from UNICEF.

Later in life, they will not be able to vote, make use of the social services nor register their own children.

Mr Alexander called on the EU to use its leverage to raise accountability. "If you look at new member states, their problems have not been solved; in fact, they are getting worse," he said, according to Reuters.

UNICEF presented the report at the German parliament together with the report on Roma in Germany, prepared by Berlin's Technical University.

That study found there are some 50,000 Roma from the former Yugoslavia living in Germany on refugee status who are not eligible for integration and language courses because they don't have official papers.

"Roma children should be given the chance to break up the vicious cycle of poverty, discrimination and prejudices," said Reinhart Schlagintweit, head of UNICEF Germany in a statement on Monday.

He warned of the "dramatic consequences" when "hundreds of thousands of children around the world grow up in ghettoes, without educational perspectives in the heart of Europe."

At the same time another UNICEF report shows that the percentage of Roma children at school age, but not attending school, are 60-80 percent in Bulgaria, Albania and Romania, while it has been reduced to 20 percent in Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to AFP.

EUROPE WANTS TO FORCE THE RE-OPENING OF ADOPTIONS

Article from Ziua Nov. 10, 2006

EUROPE WANTS TO FORCE THE RE-OPENING OF ADOPTIONS

The Hunt for Children

After Romania had been sharply criticized for the way in which international adoptions were done between 2000 and 2004, now some European Parliamentarians are vehemently demanding the re-opening of international adoptions. At the opening of a conference entitled "A European Policy of Adoptions" held yesterday, and organized by Europarliamentarians Claire Gibault and Jean-Marie Cavada, Romanian authorities were accused of using the fight against corruptions merely as a pretext for closing international adoptions. Gibault stated, "The issue of corruption is very important, but it should not become a mere pretext for sacrificing whole generations of children." Thus, in spite of the fact that the conference was supposed to be about European adoptions, the first session had more to do with the refusal of the Romanian authorities to re-open international adoptions.

Romania Will Not Give In

Theodora Bertzi, State Secretary for the Romanian Office for Adoptions, declared, "These are not pretexts. Such a position is inadmissible. Romania is going to maintain its position and respect the current law because this law is in conformity to European standards and is the only thing which can protect against the international adoption mechanisms which still exist in the world. It is the only legislation which can protect the children of Romania. The system of international adoptions which existed before is only in a temporary dormant state. The people who were involved in this are waiting for a change in the legislation so that they can once again start up their business. I was expecting something like this to happen. The Europarliamentarians Gibault and Cavada, who organized this colloquium, are trying to drag people into error. They said we were going to talk about European adoptions, but now they are talking about adoptions from Romania."

Parliamentarians Try To Stop The Tears

There were three young Romanians at the debate organized by these two Europarliamentarians. These young people spoke about the conditions in institutions. The first of these was Petrescu who was adopted in 1995 by a family from Great Britain. He had been institutionalized for 4 years at a center for handicapped children in Ungureni because he suffered from polio. Among the statements that this young person made were the following: "I was tied to the bed and my feed were bound. We did not receive sufficient food nor clothes and we were always dying of cold. When people from outside were coming to visit us, they put nice clothes on us. But afterward, these clothes were taken away from us and we continued to freeze." He was later invited to speak about the advantages which came from being adopted. Additionally, his adoptive mother said that the situation at the orphanage hadn't really changed much if at all. On the other hand, the head of the National Authority for the Protection of the Rights of the Child, Bogdan Panait, said that the orphanage in Ungureni no longer falls under the system of child protection but rather is under the National Authority for Handicapped People. The 15 children who were there had been moved into a family type home in 2000. Panait declared, "I came to this conference very relaxed hoping to find out somethings about the policies of member states. I would ask that Romania not be shown as a negative example when it comes to the area of child protection. We have to remember that our system is very young, but we have made important progress. The system is not perfect and I have never maintained that it was."

Europarliamentarian Cavada stated that he will protect these witnesses and asked that the Romanian authorities would stop their slandering and threaten Romania with a lawsuit if they continue. Cavada acknowledged that progress had been made in Romania, but at the same time he said he was not impressed with their "publicity campaign". He said that he wishes to help Romania to continue the reforms. He added, "We are trying to help, but Romania refuses to believe that we want to help them." Europarliamentarians Gibault, Cavada and DeCombret had initiated a petition in which they asked for the re-opening of international adoptions.

ADOPTION LAW IN ROMANIA DOESN'T RESPECT INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

Article from Mediafax Nov. 10, 2006

DECOMBRET--ADOPTION LAW IN ROMANIA DOESN'T RESPECT INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

Brussels, Nov. 10, 2006

"The law from 2004 regarding adoptions in Romania includes an article which is against the United Nations Convention and the Hague Convention, because it forbids international adoptions," declared the president of the foundation SERA France, Francois DeCombret, in an attempt to force Romanian authorities to review the legislation in this area.

He explained that the international adoption of a Romanian child is not possible today except in the case where the one who wants to adopt the child is his grandparents.

"It is about a disguised ban on international adoptions. This article (nr. 39 from law 273/2004--n.r.) doesn't respect the international conventions ratified by Romania. The authors of these laws are not Romanian, but pretend to be international experts sent from the European Union," declared Parliamentarian DeCombret Thursday, on the occasion of the conference "European Policy of Adoption".

Many children claim abuses in a private orphanage

Article translated from Realitatea.net Sept. 11, 2006

QUESTIONABLE

Many children claim abuses in a private orphanage

The problem of abuses in orphanages again becomes a reality. Many children who have stayed for years in the care of a private orphanage in Brasov told a journalist from Great Britain that they were beaten by the workers and forced to stay days at a time in isolation. The head of the Educational Complex denies all the accusations. Still, the CPS will open an investigation.

The children who launched the accusations against the employees of the Sunny Glade Educational Complex (Poinana Soarelui) in Brasov, have lived there since 2004. Unhappy with the behavior of those who cared for them, the children asked to be moved into a state run orphanage, and now they are in the state's care.

"The employees beat us (...) They made us believe that our only option was to depend on them, that other orphanages weren't good," a young 16 year old man who lived in the Sunny Glade (Poiana Soareleui) told us.

Even young people who are still at the center say that employees lock them in isolation.

"Yes, as a punishment if we smoke or if we do bad things, but how many days? Well, three days if you smoke..." testified one of the children from the center.

Representatives from the Center do not acknowledge the accusations:

"No isolation exists, besides the room for those with contagious diseases," declared Luminita Tampea, director of the Complex.

What's more, two girls who stayed at the Sunny Glade Complex (Poinana Soarelui) complained that they were violated by the administrator of one of the camps in Bacau during summer camp. The CPS will send a notice to the police, but will begin their own investigation. If the accusations prove to be true, the Sunny Glade Complex risks losing their license.

CHILDREN WITHOUT A CHILDHOOD

Translated from Cotidianul Oct. 24, 2006

CHILDREN WITHOUT A CHILDHOOD

By: Radu Calin Cristea

Romania will not be able to put up for very long with a total embargo in international adoptions. The subject demands at least a very serious debate.

International adoptions from Romania were a well justified idea, but the idea was applied in a catastrophic way. Thousands of children were sold like merchandise through the intermediaries called NGO's who were motivated merely by the money they could get from this business; and then they refused to present the Romanian authorities with post adoption reports. Baroness Emma Nicholson, former rapporteur for Romania from the European Parliament, spoke about the interests of certain dubious politicians as well as about the international adoption of certain children for the criminal purpose of using their organs. The moratorium of Oct. 2001, suspended international adoptions, but left the door open for exceptional situations. In Feb. of 2004, international adoptions were completely stopped. The EU says they are thankful, but the United States is pleading for the re-opening of international adoptions. The presence of various lobbying groups has also been felt. The National Authority for the Protection of the Child and Adoption does not have funds to deal with the situation of children in difficult situations. We have seen plenty of reports about families with five or six children who live in wild conditions and who survive for the most part on gifts or on what they can find in the field. About 400 Europarliamentarians are lobbying for the unblocking of international adoptions. The investigations which were recently made by Europaliamentarians Cavada and Gibault have stirred up rumors in almost all of the press with articles resonating the following idea "We will not sell out children".

My opinion is that international adoptions should be re-opened because there are perhaps tens of thousands of children who have no parents that will assure them of a decent life. National adoptions are extremely difficult, and they will not ultimately catch up with the huge number of children that need to be adopted. A new system of international adoptions needs to be put into place which avoids the errors of the past. I believe that the best guarantee would be to give the agreement on an intergovernmental level. Governments would be required to periodically verify the situations and then communicate this to the Romanian government as well as to families who gave up their children for adoption. Communication between the adopted child and his family in Romania would be regular and diverse. Any deviation from the requirements would immediately cause the child to be brought back to Romania and given to the biological family. The time for international adoptions will come for Romania. It would be good to initiate some public discussions on this theme so we don't wake up one day in a situation which demands a hasty response and which will be dependent on political convergences.

Below is a comment to this article:

By: Ioana Apopei--Unfortunately, and especially for the children, no one has wanted to defuse the bomb which has been put at the doors of orphanages by the Baroness and big Mr. Tiriac, who praises himself for the fact that he gives children from the orphanage work to do (but what does he do, make them his slaves?).

How did these children get lost? Give us some names. Why has no one ever mention the name of a child who has been adopted after 1997? Hasn't anyone ever been able to find even one newspaper to pay 2 or 3 million euros to grab an adoption file at random, to get the address of some adoptive parents and go there? Go to the country where the child is and find the adoptive parents. They should ask to see the child and compare it to any pictures which are found in the adoption file at the court. Ladies and Gentlemen, the judges are not as has been said. Don't you think that the judges read every jot and tittle from every page of the adoption file? Do you know how many documents were required from adoptive parents? You will be flabbergasted. Do you know how many people read these documents? Do you know how many they approved? A huge amount. There is something I don't understand: it is curious to me that not one functionary from the Romanian Adoption Committee gave the right to free thinking in the press when the Baroness lorded herself over all the TV channels, etc. 'Look, man, she's from the EU'! Adoptive parents needed to have a background check from their police department which was no older than one month before the court hearing for the adoption. There were psychological studies, home studies, plus the adoption had to take place through an agency authorized by the receiving state. But also authorized by the Romanian Adoption Committee, which involved many, many formal procedures.

In addition, each adoptive family was flanked by other families from their area when they arrived at the airport and were received in adopters clubs and everybody knew about this adopted child. They met with people, they visited with people, they had all kinds of outings; and curious thing, they gathered funds for the orphanages in Romania. Do you know how many donations were made to support the orphanages during the years when international adoptions were open? Oh how easy it is to cast blame. With all the hysteria, I am amazed that Mr. Radu Calin Cristea was able to publish such an article. Involved with their own concerns, the leaders of our country omitted important aspects of this problem and left the destiny of the children to the whims of them EU. But what will happen when they turn 18? What awaits them? Will Mr. Tiriac take them all to work for him? Nobody wanted the truth. It's more trendy to sling mud. That's what we've done--like the Romanian saying, "we've thrown the whole shepherd's coat into the fire because of one louse" which in fact, was not a louse but a flea which no one actually saw. However, merely because someone had an itch, and scratched, a hubbub erupted that the shepherd's coat was full of fleas. And the children have not been hammered by this fate. It happened when they were abandoned in the hospitals, when they were left by the government, and most of them are without parents when they could have been sent to any civilized place in the world. Do you realize that these adopted children are treated like little Princes? Why doesn't anyone go where these adopted children are and write an article? Do you know what principle should govern the art of journalism and especially the government? "Sine ira et studio"--it demands that what is said should not be for self-serving purposes (for favors from the present ruler by studium for him and ira for the previous). I am disgusted with writers who write what is 'in vogue' in order that sales will increase due to the scandals. Perhaps the children who could have been adopted will grow up and will ask us, "Why did you keep quiet? Now we have no chance for a family and we have no home to which we can go back at holidays.

I didn't really want to get into this dispute, but I recently read an article in which a child from the U.S. kept running away from the children's home or from the family who had him in foster care ("family type placement", as we say here). When the psychologist asked him why, he said, "I want a stable family, people that I can call momma and daddy and where I can return for the holidays and know that people are there waiting for me." The child was a girl. If we are parents, then we ought to think like parents. The 1997 law said clearly 'adoptions are done in the best interest of the child'. I believe that it seemed good for the new government in 2000, to use the matter of international adoptions as a way to show how corrupt the former government was. An adoption, however, was eventually signed by a judge (from among 3 judges) and in the presence of the prosecutor. But nobody really wants to know how adoptions are done. For 2 years after a child has been adopted, the adoption agency from the area of residence of the adoptive parents, would send a report every 6 months with photographs of the child to Romania. The Romanian foundation which did the adoption, was obligated to make sufficient copies and give them to the CPS of the county, to the orphanage from which the child had been adopted, as well as to the Romanian Adoptions Committee. The foundation was also required to keep one copy in their files. Many foundations visited the children at home in their new families. But why was no foundation allowed to give its point of view but rather only the Baroness was allowed to speak and right of reply was killed? There are many foundations which intermediated hundreds of adoptions and have hundreds of files in their archives.

Unfortunately, the destiny of innocent children has been politicized. These children were abandoned and then beaten again by the government because that's what the government thought would be good for them politically. It's shameful. How will these leaders be able to look these children in the eye? It has been said that a child is a gift from God, but the government has made him political pawns. Sin! Yes, it's true that different fates came about when the lots were cast. But the one who doesn't know is not the one who is being accused, rather, the one who doesn't want to know.

Helping Families Adopt Orphans Act

Congresswoman Wilson Introduces the Helping Families Adopt Orphans Act Legislation

Congresswoman Heather Wilson today announced she has introduced the Helping Families Adopt Orphans Act, legislation to aid families adopting orphans from foreign countries.

The legislation would extend the validity of the I-171H "Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition" form to at least two years.

This form is issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security. It is the final form needed to adopt international orphans and is the ticket to adoption for many families.

The form is currently valid for 18 months, although the time needed to complete the adoption process has significantly increased over the last few years because of delays in travel approval, visas for orphans, and additional processing time to gain approval by foreign governments.

AFTER THE RE-OPENING INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS

Article translated from Gandul Oct. 19, 2006

AFTER THE RE-OPENING INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS YOU WILL HAVE A HAPPY CHILDHOOD

by: Sinziana Ionescu

The visit of French Europarliamentarian Claire Gibault in Constanta began with a scandal. Accompanied by two filming teams from the French mass media, Gibault wanted to check on the conditions which were being offered to children in hospitals and orphanages in Constanta. From the very beginning, the attitude of her delegation created tensions in their hosts. At the first stop, the Emergency Hospital in Constanta, the Europarliamentarian manifested her unhappiness with the presence of Romanian journalists who disturbed her in their recording of events. Although he wished to visit the maternity section, she went to the pediatric section believing that she would find abandoned children there in filth. It was explained to her that these little patients come from needy families. They have health problems and their parents are not able to assure them of proper treatment. The head of the pediatric section, Dr. Valeria Stroe assured Gibault that the families do visit the children from time to time. The French Europarliamentarian posed with several children in her arms and spoke to one of them who was only a year and 3 months old saying to him in French, "After the opening of international adoptions, you will have a happy childhood."

In the maternity hospital, Gibault could not converse with the nursing children. She spoke, instead, with the head of the maternity section, Dr. Vlad Tica. After that, she shared her impressions with the press and also rebuked them for coming into the children's ward. She said, "I didn't expect that all of the press would come into the room out of respect for the children and the doctors." Noteworthy is the fact that she never wore a white gown.

After the visit to the hospital she made her way to some orphanages. At "Little Rotterdam" Gibault and her team commented that the visit seemed a little too much "by the book" and suspected that the Romanian authorities had orchestrated the whole visit. Petre Dinica declared, "They had the impression that we only showed them what we wanted them to see." At "Little Rotterdam" there are about 60 children who come from needy families. The French visitors accused the Romanians of hiding some of these children in order that they would not be seen. However, the students were in school and there were only pre-school children in the center. Dinica told the French that what they believed was absurd.

The atmosphere at the home of a foster mother who is raising a handicapped child as well as a visit to the "Horizon" family type home, only strengthened the conviction of the French that the Romanians were covering up the reality. "I don't see any smiles on their faces," declared Gibault. She was informed that along with the psychological and physical problems that these children have, they are also marked by disabilities and were scared by the hubbub created by her visit. Although the program was supposed to end at 12 noon, the visit of the French woman was prolonged without the knowledge of the Romanian officials.

At the "Antonio" orphanage, the employees refused to permit her access without the approval of the head of the Constanta CPS. When they arrived at the orphanage, Gibault said that the reason for her visit to the orphanage was an attempt to escape from the Romanian press.

Yesterday in Bucharest, Gibault asked forgiveness for her attitude, admitting in a press conference that it was due to being very nervous.

The official visit of Claire Gibault in Romania which began Monday, was marked by changes of plans at the last minute, unannounced visits at institutions where children are housed, violations of Romanian law, and disrespect for the Romanian authorities regarding their right to be informed.

Also present at the press conference on Wednesday, was Europarliamentarian Jean-Marie Cavada. He, along with Claire Gibault and Francoise de Combert, is the initiator of a petition for re-opening of international adoptions in Romania. He said that he has had discussions at the governmental level and has proposed constituting a commission regarding the cases of Romanian children whose international adoption had been requested before the stoppage of international adoptions. According to Cavada, these cases should be "reviewed". The government of Romania firmly rejected this request by the Europarliamentarians regarding modifying the law or reviewing the more than 1,000 requests for adoption of Romanian children by foreigners which were made before the stoppage of international adoptions. The head of the Romanian Adoption Authority, Theodora Bertzi, declared that a working group had been constituted at the governmental level and had analyzed each individual case and that all the families involved had received a response from her office. Bertzi specified that, "It should be understood that not even for one moment would I be in agreement with re-analyzing these cases."

EUROPARLIAMENTARIANS ASK FOR INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS

Article translated from BBC Romanian.com October 18, 2006

EUROPARLIAMENTARIANS ASK FOR INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS

A group of French Europarliamentarians ask Romanian authorities to revise legislation which forbidsalmost all international adoptions. Jean Marie Cavada and Claire Gibault presented Romanianofficials, including Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu, a list of signatures, over 400 of the 632 Europarliamentarians, who maintain their position of changing the Romanian law.

Emma Nicholson says the problem of the children is one that is to be resolved by nationalsovereignty, and doesn't enter into the competence of the European Union.

For two French Europarliamentarians, there are two reasons why Romania should allow foreign citizens to adopt Romanian children.

The first one is that the Romanian government does not have sufficient money to keep the thousands of abandoned children in orphanages nor does it have enough money to prepare and pay social workers and medical people to care for these children, nor does the government have the money to offer these children the best conditions of hygiene and education. These officials did recognize that the situation in the orphanages is not the same nightmare that it was said to be several years ago by the foreign press.

The second reason given by the Europarliamentarians is that many children are not adopted here because of very difficult procedures in adoption or because of different problems that the children have. On the basis of these two arguments, Jean-Marie Cavada proposed that the European Commission suggest a law which would permit the re-opening of adoptions, if not international ones at least inter-European ones. The European sentiment has changed a great deal. They are not of the same opinion that they were when international adoptions were forbidden. I know many Romanian families who wish to adopt, but wouldn't it be just as simple to adopt a new European law which would be valid in Romania when Romania is part of the European Union, which says that any adoptable child in a member country of the EU is able to be adopted by any citizen from any member state. As a refutation, the head of the National Authority for Child Protection, Bogdan Panait, says that official statistics indicate that the number of children being adopted has grown only after the closing of international adoptions. British Europarliamentarian Emma Nicholson, who fought for the stoppage of international adoptions from Romania, says that, "The problem of the children is one which has to do with national sovereignty and that it is not in the competence of the European Union to resolve it. The European Union has many responsibilities but not the problem of children in its member states. All the social problems need to be resolved by the authorities in these member states. In other words, Brussels cannot decide anything about the problems of children in Romania." Prime Minister Tariceanu declared at a meeting on Tuesday that Romania will maintain the current policy with regard to adoptions and will give more money for improved services in this domain.

A EUROPARLIAMENTARIAN SNEAKS THROUGH ROMANIAN ORPHANAGES

Article translated from Adevarul Oct. 18, 2006

A EUROPARLIAMENTARIAN SNEAKS THROUGH ROMANIAN ORPHANAGES

By: Carmen Chihaia and Magda Crisan

A delegation of Europarliamentarians who came from Brussels to visit institutions that protect children changed their original scheduled visits twice, trying to catch Romanian authorities 'on the wrong foot'.

The most recent try was yesterday, when the delegation went unannounced to an orphanage in Prahova. Europarliamentarian Claire Gibault hadn't yet arrived in institutions in Arges and Brasov, stopping instead at an orphanage in Campina, where 32 minors are cared for. Local authorities in Prahova were told of the change in schedule only Monday evening (the evening before) after 11 p.m. The head of Romanian office for Adoptions, Theodora Bertzi, considers that Gibault's attitude is without transparency and respect with regard to the authorities in Romania.

A SCANDALOUS VISIT IN CONSTANTA ALSO

European Deputy, Claire Gibault, also tried Monday to take Romanian authorities by surprise, trying to sneak into an orphanage in Constanta. After she left, with a smirk on her lips, from officials and journalists from Constanta, she suspects the hosts showed her only the nice part of things, she turned around at the barrier, and asked the personnel of the orphanage to show her everything immediately. She went into the Pediatric section of the County Hospital, but turned around, finding out that she had gotten the wrong address: instead of Maternity, she had gotten lost in the sections of little children sick and undergoing treatment. In another visit to the Micul Rotterdam orphanage, the special conditions offered to over 60 orphans, instead of making her glad, made her run away.