AGERPRES special correspondent Cristian Lupascu reports: The Romanian community in the Chernivtsi region (Ukraine) marked the Day of Bukovina on Thursday with a series of religious and cultural events, 106 years after the union of Bukovina with Romania.

The events, organised by the Independent Journalists Association of Chernivtsi and the newspaper Zorile Bucovinei, took place in both Chernivtsi and the town of Storozhynets, with the participation of representatives from the Romanian Consulate in Chernivtsi.

At the tomb of Iancu Flondor in the Storozhynets cemetery, a memorial service was held for the great Romanian politician, who is considered one of the main architects of the union.

“This year, which is a significant year, as it marks 100 years since the passing into eternity of Iancu Flondor, one of the main creators of the union of Bukovina with the motherland, at the church in the Maidan neighborhood of Storozhynets, at the tomb of Iancu Flondor, a commemoration service was held for our ancestor, as well as a service in honour of the 106 years since the union of Bukovina with the motherland,” journalist Vasile Bicu told AGERPRES.

Writer Stefan Hostiuc, editor-in-chief of “Mesager bucovinean” magazine and member of the “Eudoxiu Hurmuzachi” Romanian Cultural Centre in Chernivtsi, highlighted the difficult times the Romanian community in Chernivtsi is going through, being neglected by the Romanian authorities and subjected to great pressures from the authorities in Kyiv.

“The Day of Bukovina is an important day for the Romanians here, because it is when they felt fully entitled to their rights as Romanians, but it is also an important day for all of Romania, because the periphery is just as important for the nation as the centre. There is a dialectic between the center and the periphery, but if there were no periphery, there would be no centre. The core is stronger the better the periphery is consolidated. By consolidating the periphery, you ensure a strong core. Well, this is something the newer politicians do not understand very well. (…) If our schools and churches are taken from us, we cease to exist as a Romanian community, capable of saying something, of withstanding history, and being part of the Romanian nation. Otherwise, we disappear as part of the Romanian nation (…). At the level of high politics, too little has been done to protect this community,” said Stefan Hostiuc.

He also pointed out that, over the past 30 years, the number of schools with Romanian-language instruction has halved.

The Day of Bukovina is a public holiday in Romania, celebrated every November 28, commemorating the decision of the General Congress of Bukovina to unite the Bukovina region with the Kingdom of Romania on November 28, 1918.