US embassy cable - 05BUCHAREST887

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BUCHAREST 000887 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE DEPT FOR EUR/NCE - WILLIAM SILKWORTH; EUR/OHI JOHN 
BECKER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, RO, MO, cultural heritage, minority rights, biographic information 
SUBJECT: MAYOR BOC MENDS FENCES IN MULTICULTURAL CLUJ 
 
1. Summary: An archeological dig in Cluj's central square 
has been a source of ethnic division in this multicultural 
city for more than a decade.  Reform-minded Cluj Mayor Emil 
Boc has forged a democratic solution to address the concerns 
of both ethnic Hungarians and archeologists -- filling the 
hole half way.  Separately, three years after the Cluj city 
council voted to change the name of a street named for 
wartime dictator Antonescu, Boc has taken down the old 
street signs and reverted the street to its previous name, 
an important step for Romania's Jewish community.  End 
Summary. 
 
ALL IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER 
------------------------------ 
2. The casual tourist visiting Cluj is bound to visit the 
Piata Unirii with its impressive St. Michael's church and 
equestrian statue of Hungarian king and local son Matei 
Corvin.  In front of the statue lies a neglected 
archeological excavation site, exposing the remnants of 
third century a.d. Roman houses.  Local opinion holds that 
what the "hole" actually reveals is a twelve year 
embarrassment. 
 
3. The excavation site is both a medium and a message. 
First, it demonstrates physically the claim that Romans were 
present in Cluj and Transylvania many centuries before the 
area was settled by Hungarians.  Second, segments of the 
archeological and historical communities hold that although 
what is currently revealed is not very significant, 
something "spectacular" might be revealed by extending the 
excavation.  The Hungarian minority at one time feared that 
this argument might lead to the destruction of the statue of 
Corvin adjoining the hole. Finally, it stands as a constant 
reminder to passersby of tensions in local politics. 
 
4. The initial excavation occurred in 1994, the same year in 
which the Piata was renamed "Unification" square by extreme 
nationalist Greater Romania Party (PRM) mayor Gheorge Funar. 
(The new name is itself a reminder of the Hungarian loss of 
Transylvania to Romania under the Trianon agreement.) 
Although the National Archeological Commission decided to 
fill in the diggings in 1997, nothing was done.  In 2000 the 
county prefect also decided to fill in the area, but Funar 
thwarted the decision by moving the soil needed for the 
procedure in the dead of night.  An architectural 
competition several years ago selected a design for a 
viewing station and catwalks for the site, but nothing was 
built.  It is locally regarded as little more than a garbage 
pit, maintained by neither the city nor archeologists. 
 
PUBLIC DISCUSSION TO FIND A COMMON SOLUTION 
------------------------------------------ 
5. The Cluj-Napoca city government organized a public debate 
on the fate of the archeological site in early February.  In 
what may have been the first such event of its kind in Cluj, 
architects, archeologists, politicians and members of civil 
society debated possible solutions for over two hours on 
February 9.  Mayor Boc was quoted as saying, "Cluj deserves 
a different center.  The time when the city was a bastion of 
outmoded nationalism is over.  There needs to be a 
democratic debate in order to reach a decent solution, 
because the city cannot be allowed to have a center like it 
is now." 
 
6. After hearing arguments on both sides, it was decided to 
pursue a middle option: filling in the excavation on the 
eastern side of the square, and continuing work for the 
moment on the west.  The local council sent this plan to the 
Ministry of Culture and the National Archeology Commission 
for review and approval, with the final decision to be taken 
by the local council in March. 
 
DECISION ANNOUNCED . BUT NOT FUNDING 
------------------------------------ 
7. It is a measure of the surprising public interest in this 
issue that it has been the subject of guerilla art exhibits. 
This includes actions by "Mind Bomb," a group of artists, 
architects, graphic artists and writers -- whose goal is to 
"sensitize citizens with respect to different daily problems 
and their determination to participation in taking decisions 
that concern them."  The group placed a sign on the square 
prior to the public meeting on February 8.  When the local 
council had not announced a decision after a month, they 
snuck a new sign onto the square over the night of Sunday, 
March 13.  The sign featured an orange pen with "D.A. for 
change" written on it signing a decision, and the slogan 
"Fill in the Hole."  The group warned that if the mayor and 
city council avoided taking a decision, they could lose the 
vote of confidence the citizens of Cluj gave them. 
 
8. Whether influenced by guerilla art or not, the local 
council announced its plan on March 28.  The excavation on 
the east of the square should be covered in sand and grass 
by the end of May 2005.  The National History Museum of 
Transylvania has until the end of September 2005 to finish 
research in the second excavation site.  A second public 
debate will then be organized at which the research results 
will be presented, and a decision made regarding the future 
of this area.  Unfortunately, there is no money allocated in 
the local budget for the work, and the local council is in 
negotiation with some local firms to find one that will do 
the work pro bono. 
 
NO MORE ANTONESCU STREET 
------------------------ 
9. In a separate move, three years after a city council 
decision calling for the change, Boc has replaced the signs 
for "Marshal Ion Antonescu" street with new signs restoring 
the name to Spring Street.  Boc promised the Embassy and the 
local Jewish Community he would make this change shortly 
after his election in June 2003.  The Jewish Community had 
spent six years petitioning former mayor Funar to remove 
street signs erected in 1999 honoring Antonescu on the main 
street of Manestur, the largest district within the city of 
Cluj-Napoca.  Although an emergency ordinance was passed by 
the Romanian Parliament forbidding the cult of war 
criminals, and the City Council decision in August 2002 
called for the name to be changed, Funar refused. 
 
10. Cluj Jewish Community president Gavrila Goldner 
expressed delight to EmbOff that the street name had finally 
been changed.  One local newspaper (Monitorul de Cluj) 
featured a front page story on the change March 29, 
proclaiming it a "Purim gift for the Jewish Community."  The 
Jewish community in Cluj, in the tens of thousands before 
World War II, now numbers between 300-500.  Goldner said the 
Jewish community is now pressing Boc and the central 
government to aid in the repair and maintenance of four 
local Jewish cemeteries. 
 
11. Comment.  Boc came to office in Cluj with high 
expectations from residents who had experienced 12 years of 
economic stagnation, bureaucratic blockage, and persistent 
ethnic division under extreme nationalist Funar.  In the 
early months after Boc's victory, many residents complained 
privately and in the media that Boc was moving slowly in 
implementing the reform platform he had campaigned on.  A 
number of local analysts note he now appears to have turned 
a corner.  Economic signs are improving, due in large part 
to the now more open environment Boc has brought to the city 
(septel).  Moreover, the resolution of key issues of great 
symbolic concern to the ethnic Hungarian and Jewish 
communities demonstrates Boc's commitment to healing wounds 
which festered under Funar.  End Comment. 
 
12. Amembassy Bucharest's reporting telegrams are available 
on the Bucharest SIPRNET Website: 
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/bucharest 
 
DELARE