On June 2nd-3rd , 2022, in Berlin, a delegation led by the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Aneta MATEI, together with the prefects of Caraş-Severin, Sibiu, Suceava and Timiș counties, participated in the workshops of the session XXV (26th session) of the Romanian-German Joint Governmental Commission for the issue of ethnic Germans in Romania, the activity taking place at the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Interior.
The Romanian-German Joint Commission was established in 1992 and is a privileged device for deepening the strategic relationship between Romania and the Federal Republic of Germany, through which the Romanian Government creates a favorable framework for preserving the identity of the German minority in our country. The meetings are organized annually, alternately in Romania and in Germany.
The Commission is co-chaired by Natalie Pawlik, Federal Government Commissioner for Immigrants of German Origin and National Minorities, from the Federal Ministry of the Interior. Mrs. Daniela Gîtman, Secretary of State within the MFA, ensures the co-presidency for the Romanian side.
Bilateral cooperation relations, including in the field of internal affairs, have a strategic dimension and are at an excellent level, an important role in achieving this level of cooperation being played by the German minority in Romania and the extended community of Romanian citizens living in Germany.
Secretary of State Aneta MATEI mentioned in her presentation that “each Institution of the Prefect, in the nine counties in which there is a significant number of inhabitants belonging to the German minority and who have submitted their own annual activity reports, may bring in Examples of concrete projects initiated by the general framework provided by this Joint Commission. They have essentially contributed to the preservation of the identity and to the economic and social development of both the ethnic German community in Romania and the communities to which they belong. ”
The participation of the MIA delegation in this year’s jubilee edition is an additional impetus in order to identify opportunities to expand the topics addressed, by new collaborations in the fields of education, culture and, especially, in the economic field.
The next session of the Joint Commission will be held in Romania, in Timișoara – European Capital of Culture in 2023.
