MEPs collect signatures in favor of inter-country adoption

MEPs collect signatures in favor of inter-country adoption

Data: Lunedì, 19 Giugno 2006 (Ore: 17:51)

Argomento: Adozione Internazionale

Bucharest Daily News - 16.06.06,/i>

Several European lawmakers who support the resumption of inter-country adoptions in Romania met in Strasbourg again, in an attempt to collect enough signatures to file a petition asking the government to resume adoptions.

The meetings were also attended by the head of the Romanian Office for Adoptions, Theodora Bertzi, who pleaded in favor of the existing legislation, which forbids such adoptions.

The new laws came into effect at the beginning of last year, following the insistence and criticism of previous laws by the former rapporteur for Romania, Emma Nicholson.

The new laws virtually ban all inter-country adoptions, except those in which the adopters are relatives of the child.

The laws, which blocked thousands of adoption requests, were harshly criticized by countries wanting to adopt, and especially by the U.S. Recently, several MEPs pleaded in favor of inter-country adoptions and asked Romania to resolve requests that were blocked when the new laws came into effect.

The petition was initiated by MEPs Jean Marie Cavada, Claire Gibault and Francois de Combret. By Tuesday evening, they had already collected 210 signatures.

The document will be handed out to all European Parliament members, Bertzi said. The state secretary added that on Tuesday, during a meeting of MEPs, de Combret, who heads the S.E.R.A. Foundation in France, pleaded in favor of changing the laws and presented a series of data about the situation of adoptions and the child protection system in Romania.

Bertzi said she was surprised that de Combret presented data from an UNICEF report although Bucharest has repeatedly denied the information in the report. He also said that Romanians have children to abandon, said Bertzi, adding that she considered the statement "insulting" to the Romanian people.

di Alecs Iancu - Bucharest Daily News - 16.06.06,/i>

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