The “Multiculturalism in Europe” debate

The members of the panel

April 12th, 2011

More than 30 representatives of embassies, Romanian Government, presidential administration, NGOs and academia participated on Monday, April 11^th, at the “Multiculturalism in Europe” debate, organized by Policy Center for Roma and Minorities together with the Department for European Affairs of the Romanian Government. The event took place at the Infoeuropa Center in Bucharest.

The debate moderated by Valeriu Nicolae, president of Policy Center for Roma and Minorities, focused on the future of the process of social integration and on the position that different cultures will have within the European Union.

After a 30 minutes debate, NGO representatives and students had the opportunity to ask questions regarding the positive valences of multiculturalism and the way that these can be exploited. Furthermore, the debate tackled the issue of the paradox that was induced due to the positions assumed by the European states that reject multiculturalism and the European Union (that they are members of), which assumes at an institutional level a role of promoting and supporting the paradigm of multiculturalism.

The event took place in the context of many important European leaders recently declaring the failure of multiculturalism in their countries. In the last months, a series of controversial aspects (like those regarding emigrants and minarets) rose criticism within the majority population, and the situation was speculated by some politicians.

The debate followed the Chatam House rules.

The debate was attended by: Heissel Jurgen, Minister Plenipotentiary (Embassy of Austria), Paul Ymkers, Deputy Head of Mission and Political Counselor (Embassy of Netherlands), Marek Marszalek (Embassy of Poland), Esther Blythe (Embassy of Great Britain), Peter Ecstein Kovacs, counselor (Romanian presidential administration) and Machiel Salomons, representative of UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) in Romania.