Fighting corruption - senior civil servants from Romania take part in a seminar on democracy in Copenhagen

For A Change, June-July, 2000

Fourteen senior civil servants from the anti-corruption department of Romania's Public Ministry recently took part in the fifth of a series of seminars on democracy in the MRA centre in Copenhagen.

During their visit to Copenhagen, the Romanians met their counterparts in the office of the Danish Public Prosecutor for Economic Crime and were received by Helle Degn, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Danish Parliament. `Democracy needs the participation of the people in order to change the misuse of power,' she said. `If you want change, you have to start with yourself and your family.'

The courses are financed by the Danish State Democracy Fund, and coordinated in Romania by Cosmin Giurgiu, leader of the Christian organization Rescue, which coordinates practical and moral support for democratic development in Romania. They resulted from a visit in 1994 to Romania by a group of Danish farmers. They enlisted the help of the Apostolic Church in Denmark and of Keld Jorgensen from MRA. Participants have come from all sections of Romanian society and have said that the courses helped them to understand what democracy meant as a way of life.

This latest course followed a visit to Romania by Jorgenson and Copenhagen lawyer Torsten Hvidt, at the invitation of Chief Prosecutor Augustin Lazar, who heads Romania's anti-corruption efforts. They gave lectures in Lazar's department, to officials in the Prison Department and to professors and lecturers in the legal faculty of the University of Alba Julia.

Introducing the lecture at the anti-corruption department, Lazar said, `We understand that democracy can be created only with moral principles which have been taken seriously.' Afterwards a young prosecutor said, `A meeting like this may change our lives: knowing right from wrong.'

After the lecture at the university, History Professor Iuliu Paul commented, `A fascinating talk: not only history, but also the basis of history: morality and a strong faith. It is a new way of thinking. How can we turn this into practice?'