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European parliamentarians break the Nicholson monopoly on international adoptions

Bucharest Daily News - 8 March 2006

In spite of the general belief among Romanians that the European Union fully supports the law banning international adoptions, Bucharest Daily News found out a significant number of EU lawmakers fight a tough battle to persuade both the European Commission and the Romanian government that such adoptions are a viable alternative for orphaned children.

Among those fighting the battle is the EP's rapporteur on Romania, Pierre Moscovici. Still, their voices remain unheard in Romania. Why there's only one voice speaking on the subject on behalf of the entire European Union, no one knows But some of the MEPs accuse Baroness Emma Nicholson, the driving force behind the ban, of carrying a personal crusade against international adoptions, following the experience she had with an Iraqi boy she took care of for years.

If one would stop every meter on the most crowded street in Bucharest to ask random people if they think Romanian orphans should be up for adoption by foreign parents, the answer they would invariably receive would be "Yes," "Why not?" and "They should be that lucky!"

¶6. (SBU) (21A continued) The assessment report of the

Ukrainian Adoption System by the International Reference

Center for the Rights of Children Deprived of their Family

and International Social Service did not find any evidence

to suggest that trafficking of children through adoption

: Sun, 05 Mar 2006 22:08:52 +0100 From: "Jean-Pierre CLEMENT"

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Kevin teams up with JK to Help

Children in Eastern Europe

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News

A quick word

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

John Mulligan Comments on Irish Radio Program

John Mulligan, Chairman, Focus on Romania, comments to Pat Kenny of the Irish Radio RTE Radio 1 "Today with Pat Kenny" concerning adoption in Romania. This concerns Friday's program of 2/24/06.

Dear Pat,

Your programme is usually interesting, thoughtful and balanced, but sometimes it manages not to deliver to its usually high standards. These occasional lapses are forgivable when no injustice is done to anyone, or when the victims of such unfairness have easy access to your airwaves in order to rebalance the equation. In the case of last Friday’s show however, the people who suffer most from such blatantly incorrect and unjust reporting tend to be those with no voice, hence the need to set the matter straight, if you will allow that.

Head of adoption agency knows what she's talking about Sun, Feb. 26, 2006

BY MAUREEN HOUSTON

News-Democrat

Brenda Henn didn't set out to run an adoption agency. "I was a speech therapist from the Midwest. I went to Hungary to get my child (in July 1993)." When Russian doctors (Slava Platonov and Yelena Kogan) who had emigrated to St. Louis read her adoption story in a newspaper, they wanted to do something for the orphans of Russia. The result is Small World Adoption Foundation of Missouri Inc., based in Ballwin, Mo. "When people come in our little office, they say, 'Do you have any other offices?' 'No, this is world headquarters,'" said Brenda 49, director of operations. "I have the best job in the whole world. It's the most fabulous experience. I feel like I have 1,500 to 1,600 children floating around the United States." [More...]

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. no reference to Independent Panel