The sacrifice of going far from home is great, declared on Wednesday Prince Radu, who, together with Her Majesty Margareta, the Custodian of the Romanian Crown, met, in the context of their visit to Finland, Romanians from the city of Tampere.
On this occasion, he also referred to the Republic of Moldova, stating that „our heart is always with those from Bessarabia, because they are more vulnerable than us”.
The Royal Family of Romania visited on Wednesday the Milavida Museum in Tampere, later having a meeting with members of the Romania – Finland Association and the Finland – Romania – Moldova Friendship Association from Tampere.
„We are very often in Romanian communities. Here, in Helsinki, we came again because Finland and Romania are united not only through you, but also through sad events that are happening in our part of the world, it is a devastating war that kills every day for no reason. Our hearts are always with those from Bessarabia, because they are more vulnerable than us and as I told everyone where I went – the child who was born in Soroca, Chisinau or Balti no one asked him if he preferred to be born in Bucharest or in Timisoara. We are obliged to do so that all Romanian children have the same chances for the future, if we want to leave this world with our duty fulfilled at home is great, but it is also done with a purpose that exceeds our destiny, you have done and are doing a lot of good to Romania (…). We are still worried about Moldova, if something happens there it will affect us first. Taking care of Bessarabia means taking care of us, and we hope that all the governments and the societies we visit will understand this and help the barriers between us decrease until they disappear”, stated Prince Radu, during the meeting with the community Romanians from Tampere.
For her part, the Custodian of the Romanian Crown, Her Majesty Margareta, reiterated her concerns about the situation in the Republic of Moldova, stating, at the same time, that the Royal Family will make efforts to implement some projects aimed at the Romanian community in Finland.
„We are very happy to be able to meet you, it is the first time for me to be in Finland, but for my husband it is the third time. It is a good opportunity for us to meet you, to congratulate you for everything you are doing here, we saw a lot of talent. It means a lot for us to be here in Finland, we hope to return with economic and educational missions”, said the Custodian of the Romanian Crown.
„For the Embassy team, it is an honor to have this meeting with the association. (…) It is a great pleasure and a great privilege to meet on this truly unique, I would even dare to say historic occasion”, mentioned the Romanian ambassador to Finland, Maria Ligor.
The Romanian community in Tampere numbers approximately 300 people.
„Most of those here came after 1990, it was a cooperation program of the EU, academic institutions from Finland and Romania. We were a number of teaching staff from the Polytechnic of Bucharest who chose to come here for a year to exchange of experience. Later, the Erasmus program appeared, through which dozens of doctoral students from the Bucharest Technical University came. The community of Tampere numbered 200 – 300 Romanians, we were such a small community that we could all meet at the same time in the hall of the Orthodox church from Tampere. After the wave of visitors from the academic world arrived in Tampere, the community has diversified, there is a second generation of Romanians who have completed their studies in Finnish. It is a very close-knit community at the university level very much, at everyday level the Finns were extremely shy at first, but they never hesitated to speak to us in English. It was something unexpected, I had read that members of the Royal House were paying visits to Europe, I had read that HRH Radu was in Finland, one of the promoters of Romania’s entry into the EU, a reason for joy to see that in this way the ties between Finland and Romania will be advanced even more”, Ion Tagus, a professor at the University of Tampere, stated for AGERPRES.
On Wednesday, the Royal Family paid a visit to the Tampere City Hall, being welcomed by the mayor Kalevo Kummola in the Hall of Honor. Later, Her Majesty Margareta and Prince Radu signed the Book of Honor. This was followed by a trip to the University of Tampere, where a series of projects were presented by Professor Mircea Guina from the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Department of Photonics.
AGERPRES
