Culture MInister Natalia Intotero says that the mother tongue is essential for preserving the culture and identity of each community risking to be lost if it is not transmitted in the family and school.
„Lucian Blaga used to say that ‘Language is the first great poem of a people’. Through it we express our traditions, values and identity. Today, February 21, 2025, we celebrate 25 years since the establishment of International Mother Language Day, an opportunity to reflect on the importance of linguistic diversity for tolerance and mutual respect. The mother tongue is essential to preserving the culture and identity of each community. If it is not transmitted in the family and school, it risks being lost. That is why Romania protects the rights of national minorities and promotes linguistic diversity through the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages,” Intotero said on Friday.
She added that the Culture Ministry annually supports projects dedicated to the Hungarian, German, Ukrainian, Jewish, Roma and other communities, encouraging theatre, opera and various forms of artistic expression.
„In Romania, about 90% of the population has Romanian as their mother tongue, but our cultural heritage is also enriched by minority languages. At the same time, almost six million people speak Romanian outside the country’s borders, thus maintaining a strong connection with the national identity,” Intotero added.
She said that her ministry awarded on Thursday an honorary diploma to Magdalena Popescu-Marin „for her valuable contribution to the research of the Romanian and Rhaeto-Romance linguistic heritage, as well as to the promotion of Romanian culture internationally”.
„Last night, during the event ‘Cultural evening dedicated to the Romansh language and linguistic and cultural minorities in Switzerland and Romania’, organised by the Swiss Embassy in collaboration with the Dimitrie Gusti National Village Museum, he was awarded, on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, a Diploma of Honor. The event marked the International Week of the Romansh Language, the Day of the Abolition of Roma Slavery in the Romanian Principalities and the International Day of the Mother Language,” said Intotero.
AGERPRES
