ROMANIA: DEMARCHE CONCERNING PENDING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BUCHAREST 001062

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/NCE - WILLIAM SILKWORTH
STATE ALSO FOR CA/OCS/CI - BALLIF AND BERNIER-TOTH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/29/2015
TAGS: PREL CASC PGOV SOCI RO EU
SUBJECT: ROMANIA: DEMARCHE CONCERNING PENDING
INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION CASES

REF: STATE 73821

Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES THOMAS DELARE FOR REASONS 1.4 B AND D


1. (C) Begin Summary: Recent conversations with the
President,s domestic affairs advisor and the State Secretary
for Adoption Affairs reveal substantial philosophical
opposition to international adoption and even concern about
alleged irregularities in the registration of such cases.
This is despite general acknowledgment of the pledge made by
President Basescu in the White House to find a solution to
the problem of so-called &pipeline cases.8 Romania is
currently engaged in a &protection plan8 that entails the
case review of every child abandoned in Romania, with the
expressed intent of reuniting such children with their birth
parents if possible, or with other Romanian families. Even if
not specifically targeting U.S. adoptive families, the
on-going program may drastically reduce the total number of
pipeline cases. End Summary.


2. (C) Charge called upon Presidential Domestic Affairs
Advisor Claudiu Saftoiu on April 23rd and raised reftel
points concerning pending international adoption cases.
Saftoiu readily acknowledged the commitment made by President
Basescu during his recent White House visit to seek
resolution of the so-called &pipeline cases8 and said he
will attempt to &work8 this category of adoptions. Charge
also warned that formal signature of Romania,s scheduled
entry into the EU on April 25 would mark the beginning of a
much more active campaign on our part to secure changes in
Romanian adoption law and practices. In a later conversation
that day, Saftoiu reported that he had briefed the President
on our demarche.


3. (C) Unfortunately, Saftoiu would not directly reply to
Charge's questions about implementation of the Child
Welfare/Adoption Law. Charge stressed that implementation
should not target prospective international adoption cases as
the government investigated whether birth parents or extended
families were now in a situation to take back children from
institutional care. Saftoiu responded that he had just been
briefed by Theodora Berti, State Secretary of the Romanian
Office for Adoption, who told him that many of the
international pipeline cases had been registered after the
2001 moratorium on international adoptions went into effect
were regarded as &corrupt8. Charge urged Saftoiu to seek
more concrete information on ostensible corruption so that we
might find a way forward without that damaging charge hanging
over the process.


4. (U) On April 26, the Consul General (CG) called on Berti
to inquire how the GOR planned to proceed on the adoption
question following the April 25 signing of the EU agreement,
and to follow up Charge,s conversation with Saftoiu.


5. (U) Berti stated that she had no evidence that corruption
per se was involved in the registration of any adoption
request by U.S. citizens. But she did aver that unspecified
irregularities may have been in play. Regarding the specific
&targeting8 of U.S. adoptive parents, she claimed that the
ROA is creating a &protection plan8 for every abandoned
child in Romania, not only for those matched with U.S.
families. That process will be completed in July, and will
include scrutiny for any evidence of corruption. After July,
the ROA will consider whether to recommend the GOR create an
international commission to assess "exceptional8 cases for
potential international adoption. Berti doubts that such a
commission would be needed, believing that there are domestic
solutions ) family reunification or domestic adoption ) for
all the children.


6. (U) Other foreign embassies have withdrawn many cases
pending international adoption since January 1, Berti said,
and have followed up with lists of cases of exceptional
humanitarian concern. CG declined to provide such a list of
U.S. cases, as our position is that child welfare experts
should determine the best interests of each child in a legal,
transparent process.


7. (SBU) Asked whether there was any hope that cases
registered during the moratorium could ever be processed for
international adoption, Berti responded that, at present,
Romanian law and the philosophy the GOR has adopted preclude
international adoption except by biological grandparents.
The ROA will try to resolve cases that were registered during
the moratorium if current law allows, for example by
recommending approval of Romanian residency for foreigners
seeking both to become residents and adopt Romanian children.
(Note: This same option was raised by Saftoiu with the
Charge, but the latter dismissed it as impractical and
missing the point. End Note.)

8. (SBU) COMMENT: Despite President Basescu's commitment for
positive action on the adoption issues, we see no movement by
the GOR towards processing the pending international adoption
cases to conclusion. Rather, the ROA has more explicitly
embraced opposition to international adoption, in part out of
philosophical conviction and, in part, owing to an admitted
fear of EU criticism. Assistant Secretary Maura Harty,s
upcoming May 10-11 visit to Bucharest will be an important
opportunity to emphasize to the GOR leadership the importance
the USG places on finding a legal, transparent method for
processing to conclusion international adoption cases
registered before the ban.
DELARE