Banca Naţională a României

Regarding the letters received by the National Bank of Romania from Mr. Radu Ioanid, director at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C., and from Mr. Alexandru Florian, executive director of the "Elie Wiesel" National Institute for the Study of Holocaust in Romania on the featuring of the former Prime Minister Miron Cristea in a numismatic issue of the NBR, Mugur Şteţ, the NBR spokesman, makes the following statement.

The NBR Governor decided to set up an internal commission to look into the matter. Following the analysis, the commission found that:

1. The NBR prepares every year a program of numismatic collector-coins issues. The program is set according to the NBR’s legal competences based on written proposals received in advance from the main institutions of the Romanian public life. In completing that program, the NBR consults with the Romanian Academy, the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Ministry of Culture, Denominations Department, other ministries, governmental and cultural institutions. The NBR’s numismatic issues are dedicated to personalities and events that shaped Romania’s history and had a decisive contribution to the development of the Romanian society, as well as its culture and civilization, and to outstanding personalities and events around the world that marked the universal culture and civilization.
2. In 2010, at the special request of the Romanian Patriarchate, in a bid to mark the double celebration of the 125th anniversary of the autocephaly of the Romanian Orthodox Church and the 85th anniversary since the establishment of the Romanian Patriarchate, the NBR launched a double numismatic issue including a gold coin and five silver coins depicting the following symbols of the Romanian Orthodox Church:
   • The Patriarchal Cathedral
   • The Holy Trinity icon
   • The Patriarchal Palace, an emblematic edifice for the history of Romania where the Union of 1859 was sealed
   • The Arms of the Romanian Patriarchate
   • All the Patriarchs - the heads of the Romanian Orthodox Church who passed away: Miron Cristea, Nicodim Munteanu, Justinian Marina, Iustin Moisescu, Teoctist Arăpaşu, in a chronological order
3. The symbols chosen for the numismatic coins dedicated to the Romanian Orthodox Church’s double anniversary are deeply and firmly related to the history of this fundamental institution of the Romanian society, an institution which played a paramount role in defining and shaping Romania’s national and cultural identity. If we only refer to the Patriarchs of Romania, it is well-known and acknowledged that they played a crucial role in the developing of the Romanian Orthodox Church, being prominent figures that marked the history of the Church and Romania’s history. All these clearly reveal that the symbols chosen to mark the Romanian Orthodox Church’s double anniversary cannot be linked to the deeds specified in the above-mentioned letters.
4. Miron Cristea’s featuring in the above-mentioned numismatic issue may not and should not be related to his short activity as Romania’s Prime Minister, but is rather a natural part of the group of Patriarchs of the Romanian Orthodox Church, in a chronological order that may not be subject to dispute.
5. The NBR’s numismatic issues are in no way and by no means intended to hurt the feelings of any community, to prejudice the interests of specific groups or to convey xenophobic, racist or anti-Semite messages. In fact, the entire activity of the NBR is solely targeted at observing the values of humanity, democracy and multiculturalism.

Mugur Şteţ, NBR spokesman