(RO: Premiul Toleranţei Interetnice şi Interconfesionale "Corneliu Coposu")
The CNR Unesco Prizes
The Prize of the ethnic and confessional tolerance is created to state reason for individuals, institutions, non-governmental organizations from the central and eastern Europe who have been distinguished for their successful attempts in pointing out the values for which the ex Romanian politician Corneliu Coposu who was convicted, tortured and starved in the communist prisons, has militated during his whole life.
Being released from prison in 1964, Corneliu Coposu has worked until he was retired as a worker or technician on different building sites although he had got before 1947 the first degree and a doctor title in law. In December 1989,when The PNTCD(where he had been deputy secretary by the time of his imprisonment), was kept again in law, Corneliu Coposu was elected again The President of this party. He has died in November 1995, and during all this time, he has effectuated many activities for the moral and political progression of the Romanian post-totalitarian society. In about 6 years of political and post-revolutionary militant tendencies,, despite of all the offences and abuses which were directed against him by the neo-communist leaders, Corneliu Coposu has gained a matchless prestige and a great popularity in the terms of all the citizens from Romania.
Which is the cause of this “miracle”? Of course, we can find many explanations, but mainly, we should speak about his incredible and admirable capacity to forgive his hangmans, who have tortured and humbled him in prisons, and also we should speak about his serenity in front of his new opponents, who were instigating the population for hate and intolerance about the programmatic refuse in front of each idea of revenge. But in all these years, (1989-1995), Corneliu Coposu has dedicated all his political action, intelligence and capacity of persuasion to the pointing out of the tolerance and of the human solidarity, to the stopping of the ethnic and confessional conflicts,, to the construction and reconstruction of the civil society in Romania.
All the individuals, the persons, the organizations and institutions which hope to gain the confessional and ethnic prize “Corneliu Coposu”, should be devoted to these purposes. Of course, the aria for action is in the first time our country and also the sub region of central and eastern Europe and its’ integrity.