Remus Florinel Cernea (; born 25 June 1974) is a Romanian activist against discrimination based on faith and religion, an advocate of the separation of church and state and the founder of the Solidarity for Freedom of Conscience Association. From 2012 to 2016, he served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies. He was also president of the Green Party (PV).
He ran in the 2009 Romanian presidential election, and was a candidate for Green Party (PV), gaining over 60,000 votes, or a share of 0.62% of the votes. In October 2010, he left the Green Party over ideological differences and created the Green Movement ().
Biography
Born in Bucharest, he lived in Hunedoara for 14 years, where his father worked as a geologist, then moved back to Bucharest in 1988. In 1998, he founded the Noesis Cultural Society, an organization which edited the first Romanian e-books and multimedia encyclopedias dedicated to subjects of the Romanian culture: a CD-ROM containing 50 e-books and encyclopedias about Ion Luca Caragiale and Constantin Brâncuși.Remus Cernea - repere biografice at tualegi.eu"Cartile pe CD-Rom sunt mai ieftine", Adevărul, March 24, 2003 These projects earned the Noesis Society the prize for the best educational product (2002 edition) given by the Presidency of Romania."IT&C prizes of Romania, 2002 edition"
Cernea studied Philosophy at the University of Bucharest (UB) but he did not graduate.
In 2003, he founded the Association "Solidarity for Freedom of Conscience", a secularist and humanist organization which militates for freedom of thought, separation of church and state and against discrimination based on faith and religion.Statement of Principles, at humanism.ro, March 7, 2004
Cernea published in 2007 a book of essays and articles named "Manifest împotriva becalizării României" (A Manifest Against the Becalization of Romania), in which he argues that the "Becalization" (derived from the name of Gigi Becali, a nationalist politician who stresses his allegiance to the Romanian Orthodox Church) is threatening the values of an open society.""Manifest împotriva becalizării României", lansat la Gaudeamus", Mediafax, November 19, 2007
Views Cernea argues that in Romania there is an "unacceptable collusion between the politicians and the Church", "Les projets pharaoniques de l'Église orthodoxe à Bucarest", in Le Figaro, February 1, 2008 and that although officially there is a separation of Church and state, practically, the Romanian Orthodox Church and the state are "intimately linked"."En Roumanie, l’Eglise reste en l’Etat", Libération, September 12, 2007 He considers himself a "freethinker", which he describes as being more encompassing than the term of "atheist", considering the term of atheist a bit too limited and wanting to retain an "area of speculation and openness".A reply to Mr. Andrei Pleşu: Remus Cernea - Why I consider myself a freethinker, humanism.ro, January 29, 2008
His 2009 electoral platform was based on 10 points which he details on his blog and include: supporting conciliation and dialog within the Romanian society, supporting human rights and fight against discrimination, closer ties with Romania's neighbours, supporting green technologies, sustainable development, and green agriculture, increase in funding for education and research to 10% of the Romanian GDP, freer election system that is more fair to smaller parties, full separation of church and state and a national dialog on social issues such as legalization of prostitution, the problem of drugs and the recognition of heterosexual and homosexual civil unions."10 angajamente ale lui Remus Cernea ca Preşedinte al României", remuscernea.ro, October 5, 2009
Political activity In 1997, as a protest toward the nationalism found in Romanian politics, Cernea joined the ethnic Hungarian party, the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ), despite being ethnically Romanian."Anonimi la poarta Cotroceniului" , Evenimentul Zilei, October 27, 2009
Cernea announced his intention to run as a Green Party candidate in the January 17, 2010 by-election for the Romanian Chamber of Deputies seat (in the Sector 1 of Bucharest), vacated after the appointment of Bogdan Olteanu as deputy governor of the National Bank,"Remus Cernea candidează pentru postul de deputat lăsat liber de Bogdan Olteanu", Mediafax, November 28, 2009 however, the Bucharest Central Municipal Bureau rejected his candidature, because he is not a member of a parliamentary party, as the law requires in case of a by-election."Remus Cernea, blocat în cursa pentru Camera Deputaţilor", Evenimentul Zilei, December 29, 2009 The appeal of the decision and of the constitutionality of the law were rejected and Cernea announced he wants to dispute the law at the European Court of Human Rights."CCR a respins excepţia invocată de Remus Cernea privind alegerile din Colegiul 1", Cotidianul, January 14, 2010
2009 Presidential election
In August 2009, Cernea announced his intention of running for presidency as a candidate of the Green Party (PV)."Remus Cernea şi-a lansat candidatura la Preşedinţie", Mediafax, August 28, 2009 He and the Green Party gathered the needed 200,000 signatures and submitted them to Electoral Bureau on the last day before the beginning of the electoral campaign, October 23, 2008."Candidatul "Verzilor", Remus Cernea, si-a depus candidatura la prezidentiale la BEC", hotnews.ro, October 23, 2009
In an interview for Evenimentul Zilei, Cernea said that he wants to offer an alternative to the mainstream politics and he tries to attract the 60-70% of the voters who are disappointed by the politicians and do not want to go to the polls."Candidatul 13 la Cotroceni: "Dacă am mediatizare, intru în turul doi"", Evenimentul Zilei, October 25, 2009 Although Cernea tried to obtain a debate, no candidate from the top three parties accepted a debate involving him.
Cernea's political campaign was especially visible on the Internet, having the most Facebook supporters of all the candidates."Le elezioni romene si «giocano» online", Corriere delle sere, November 6, 2009 He says that unlike the top candidates' campaigns, his campaign was exclusively based on the enthusiasm of some young volunteers who helped him purely through pro-bono work."Remus Cernea: Candidatura mea a lasat o urma", România Liberă, November 22, 2009
Cernea was the 8th out of 12 candidates, gaining 60,539 votes, or a share of 0.62%. The highest percentages were in the Bucharest sectors 3 (1.13%) and 6 (1.04%), Cluj County (0.9%) and among the voters abroad (1.0%)."Procese verbale privind centralizarea voturilor pentru alegerea Preşedintelui României", BEC
Member of Parliament Cernea ran in the 2012 Romanian legislative election on the center-left Social Liberal Union (USL) ticket in a constituency in Constanța County, being one of the three candidates of the Green Party (PV) in the elections. He won the district, having 20,565 votes (57.23%)."Cine sunt cei mai votaţi politicieni" , România Liberă, December 12, 2012
Law proposals
Church financing reform
In April 2013, Cernea announced that he is preparing a law proposal that would cut the state financing of churches from the state budget and institute a church tax similar to the one in Germany. Prime Minister Ponta announced that the USL coalition does not support his proposal and his proposal was met with opposition. Mayor of Constanța, Radu Mazăre, called him "an idiot" and said that he'll "break his legs" if Cernea comes to Constanța. Gigi Becali called him a "satanist" and argued that Cernea should be sent to an insane asylum or to prison.
The Romanian Orthodox Church reacted to Cernea's proposal through a press release in which they argued that the state assumed an obligation in 1863 following the Secularization of monastery estates and that the proposal is "unrealistic and inadequate for today's Romania" and that it would create a "crisis in the relationship between the state and religious organizations".
Same-sex civil unions
Also in April 2013, Cernea announced that he intends to propose the legalization of civil unions for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples.
Cernea introduced a bill for same-sex civil unions, which was defeated in Parliament on 17 December 2015.
Electoral history Presidential elections ElectionAffiliationFirst roundSecond roundVotesPercentagePositionVotesPercentagePosition2009 60,539
Campaigns as activist
Church in the University courtyard
In 1998, the Philosophy and Law departments of the University of Bucharest (UB) shared a building and in its courtyard, it was decided to build a church. After the place was hallowed, Cernea, who was studying philosophy at the University, together with three other students, wrote a letter of protest, organized a conference about the subject and gathered 150 signatures against the building of the church. The Association of Christian Orthodox students gathered a list of 3,000 signatures supporting the building of the church.Cristian Ghinea, Ateii iconoclaşti cu care aş muri de gît, Dilema Veche, February 16, 2007
As the scandal was booming, the rector decided to defuse it by banning any conference on the subject. The project of the building of the church was cancelled and the Orthodox icons in the University classrooms were removed.
Icons in schools According to Cernea, following the fall of Nicolae Ceauşescu, in schools, his portraits were replaced with Romanian Orthodox icons. In 2005, Emil Moise, a philosophy teacher from Buzău began a campaign against the display of religious items in schools."Câteva ONG-uri cer retragerea icoanelor şi crucilor din şcoli", BBC, November 14, 2006 Cernea's association supported his case for the removal of icons from schools, arguing that the religious symbols represent a discrimination against non-Orthodox children and an infringement against the neutrality of the state. Additionally, as 90% of the schools held religious services, Cernea argued that this practice was also illegal, as the Romanian penal code bans forcing anyone to participate to any religious ceremony.ÎPS Bartolomeu îi afuriseşte pe duşmanii orelor de religie, Adevărul, October 24, 2006
The movement against icons in schools generated a large debate in the Romanian society and media. In CNCD Decision 323/2006, the National Council for Combating Discrimination ruled that the display of religious icons was discriminatory. However, the Ministry of Education argued that it cannot remove the icons because they were not the ones who put them there in the first place and that local communities should decide whether to keep the icons or not."Eliminarea simbolurilor religioase din şcoli", BBC, December 13, 2006
Romanian People Salvation Cathedral
The Romanian People Salvation Cathedral is a large-scale cathedral construction project envisioned by the Romanian Orthodox Church. The government of Romania originally wanted the cathedral to be built it in the place of Carol Park, but following protests, including those organized by the Solidarity for Freedom of Conscience Association,"Utilajele Aedificia Carpati au intrat in Monumentul Eroilor Comunisti din Parcul Carol" in Adevărul, April 15, 2004 it changed the plans.
Finally, in 2007, the state gave the Orthodox Church about 11 hectares of land in central Bucharest, next to the Palace of the Parliament and it promised it will pay partly the construction costs. Cernea argued that both the donation of the terrain and giving the additional funds represent a misuse of state funds and is illegal."Punerea pietrei de temelie a Catedralei Neamului", BBC, November 28, 2007
The Solidarity for Freedom of Conscience Association also contested the name "Romanian People Salvation Cathedral", arguing that it has nationalistic overtones, by linking being Romanian to affiliation to the Orthodox Church.
School curriculum