2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project

2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project
Part of 2012–14 unrest in Romania
Date	1 September 2013–11 February 2014 (5 months, 10 days,)
Location	50 cities across Romania 30 cities in Romanian diaspora
Caused by	Suspicion of long-time health effects due to cyanide Pollution threat of water supplies and rivers Destruction threat of local ecosystem Large-scale deforestation threat Doubtful environmental situation after the closing of Roșia Montană Project in event of exploitation Destruction threat of landscape Destruction threat of historic monuments Suspicion of fake documentation regarding the mining project Governmental attempts to break the Rule of Law Governmental dismissal of public servants who opposse the project Governmental intervention in Justice Secret agreements between Government and Roșia Montană Gold Corporation Governmental silence over royalties for rare-earth elements Initial lack of governmental transparency over Roșia Montană Project Low rate of royalties for minerals Conviction that political class is not pursuing the national interest Suspicion of political bribery Uncertain position of lawmakers over the project Indifference of authorities and lawmakers to citizen's requests Insults brought by Prime Minister against protesters Media blackout Aggressive pro-mining propaganda Doubtful local employment situation after the closing of Roșia Montană Project in event of exploitation
Goals	Rejection of the bill Banning gold cyanidation in Romania Registration of Roșia Montană on Romania's tentative list for UNESCO Rejection of the environmental agreement Resignation of political supporters of the project including the environment minister Rovana Plumb, the culture minister Daniel Barbu and the prime minister Victor Ponta
Methods	Sit-in Demonstration Occupation Protest march Civil disobedience Roadblock Die-in Boycott Human chain Flash mob Online activism
Concessions given	Rejection of the bill as passed by the Government Rejection of mining law
Number
200,000
Casualties
Arrests: 118 Injuries: 2

External media

Images
Save Roșia Montană protest (5 September) on Flickr
Save Roșia Montană protest (11 September) on Flickr
Romanian embassy protest on Flickr
Protests of September on Mediafax ZOOM
Video
Roșia Montană protest – CLASHES between protesters and gendarmes on YouTube
Roșia Montană protests, day 15/Bucharest, 15 September 2013 on YouTube
#roșiamontană, day 8 – The great march on YouTube
#roșiamontană, day 10 – The concert on YouTube
#roșiamontană, day 21 – Human chain around the Palace of the Parliament on YouTube
#roșiamontană, day 22 – March to Iancului-Pantelimon on YouTube
United We Save – leaf in front of the Government on YouTube
Great Gathering of Câmpeni, 19 October 2013 on YouTube

The 2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project were a series of protests in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca and dozens of other cities in Romania and abroad against the Roșia Montană mining project. The protesters say that the mining project would destroy the environment and heritage of Roșia Montană and demand the withdrawal of a law which would enable this project to commence. In Bucharest, protests are held every evening in the University Square and marches are held each Sunday.

Although at first largely ignored by the world press, the demonstrations are starting to receive more significant worldwide attention both by the media and the general population via the use of social networks. The protests were dubbed by Romanian press and not only Indignants Movement (Romanian: Mișcarea Indignaților) and Romanian Autumn (Romanian: Toamna Românească).

The Roșia Montană Project was initiated by Roșia Montană Gold Corporation, a company of which the largest shareholder is the Canada-based Gabriel Resources. The company was given in 2000, without bidding, a license for mining gold. The open-pit mining project will use cyanide to extract gold and it is expected to require the razing of three villages and destroying four mountain tops. If approved, it would be Europe's largest open-pit gold mine and it will use 12,000 tonnes of cyanide yearly, giving a yield of 350 tonnes of gold and 1,500 tonnes of silver.

The Roșia Montană campaign was originally organized by locals of Roșia Montană who have refused to be relocated and have been battling the corporation for years in the courts. The activists claim that the project would cause an environmental disaster, that it would destroy the ancient Roman archeological sites and that the project involved handling assets to the Canadian company, while the Romanian state would earn only 6% out of the project.

Within the last 14 years, the company was not able to obtain all the needed permits due to failure to comply with the Romanian environment laws. The ruling Social Democrats made a campaign promise before the 2012 legislative elections to stop the project, but they changed their mind after winning the elections In order for the project to continue, the Romanian government approved a new draft law in late August 2013 and forwarded it to the Parliament which had to vote on it in September.

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Wikipedia