Azota Popescu: The EU did not impose a ban on international adoptions

The European Union has not imposed a ban on international adoptions in Romania. At least that is what Azota Popescu, president of the "Catharsis" Association in Brașov, claims, who a year ago began the process of changing the law on international adoptions.

The European Union did not impose a ban on international adoptions in Romania. At least, that is what Azota Popescu, the president of the "Catharsis" Association in Brașov, claims, which, a year ago, began the process of changing the law on international adoptions. "A year has passed since the Association submitted to the Romanian Parliament the draft law amendment, arguments, but also signatures in support of this process. The Government's draft, approved by the Senate, contains very few amendments of ours. We were told that the law will not be changed, because the European Union does not want it", explained Azota Popescu yesterday. Consequently, the Brașov resident says that she has sent a letter to the Directorate-General for Justice of the European Commission, in which she requested an official point of view on the existence of a document "through which the European Union banned international adoptions 10 years ago". "The letter of reply confirms that the Romanian adoption law is not an order of the EU, but of some people with obscure interests in Romania. Salla Saastamoinen, the head of cabinet of the Directorate for Justice of the European Commission, signs the letter from Ms. Director Le Bail, in which she states to me that such a document does not exist", claims Azota Popescu. Today, a new meeting with parliamentarians, in Bucharest In the meantime, the steps to amend the adoption law continue. Thus, Azota Popescu wants at least certain articles of the Adoption Law, voted by the Senate on June 14, 2011, to be amended. The project is to enter the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making body. To amend the Adoption Law, the Catharsis Association proposed a different project from the Senate's, which was submitted to the Chamber of Deputies, but it "got lost" along the way. Even so, the president of the "Catharsis" Association hopes that at least the Law that was adopted by the Senate will undergo a few more changes that would be in the interest of the child. That is why, today, together with several children from placement centers, who lost the chance to be adopted, she will go to Parliament. Thus, says Azota Popescu, the Senate Law does not bring essential changes for international adoptions. "For example, there is an article 3.1, which says that a citizen of the States, who wants to adopt a child from Romania, must obtain Romanian citizenship, stay here for 12 months and then adopt. There is another article, 22, which actually takes over article 23 of the old law, which says that, in order to adopt a child, one must consent to the adoption. That means a lot of wasted time, high costs. Also, last year, I asked Parliament to eliminate article 45 of the old law. Not only did they not eliminate it, but discrimination continues, because it says that a child whose relatives up to the fourth degree are abroad can be adopted," exemplified the president of "Catharsis". Adoption, a chance for Rodica Blocking international adoptions,10 years ago, it meant, for abandoned children, cutting off opportunities that they would not have in Romania, says Azota Popescu. One case that suffered greatly from this decision was Rodica (photo), a little girl of only 11 years old, who is currently on the verge of becoming blind. "Until the age of 9, Rodica stayed with three foster families. For two years she was transferred to a center, where all the progress she had made is slowly being erased. In 2003, she met a family from Germany who wanted to adopt her. It was not possible, but the family still wants to adopt her. In that family, she would have the chance not only to be loved, but also to be a normal person. Rodica lost 85% of her sight, and her chance would be an operation abroad," concludes Azota Popescu. Rodica wrote several letters, in her own style, to the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Roberta Anastase, but also to the Brașov MP Gheorghe Gabor, asking them to "take her out of the cell", the room where children are kept at placement centers, if they are punished, as Azota Popescu explains.