Four individuals performing activities in exchange for social aid in Bosanci, Suceava, were photographed using a Romanian national flag to collect and transport garden waste and vegetation from the town hall courtyard. The images, which first appeared on the Facebook page Suceava Fail, sparked widespread public outrage over the treatment of a national symbol.
Mayor Issues Formal Apology for Flag Misuse
The photographs depict four people using the tricolor as a makeshift tarp to haul debris. Another user remarked, There isn't even the slightest bit of respect left… Shame!
, sentiments echoed by many who viewed the act as a sign of national decline. Critics pointed out that such behavior represents a grave contravention of the respect due to the country’s symbols, noting that the act of using the flag to carry garbage constitutes a desecration of national emblems.
Neculai Miron, the mayor of Bosanci and a member of the AUR party, issued a formal apology. He stated that the local administration was preparing for the December 1 National Day celebrations and had ordered the replacement of worn-out flags. According to the mayor, the old flags were placed in a storage area for textiles, from which one was taken and used by the workers. The mayor emphasized that the local authority treats the incident with the utmost seriousness.
“We deeply regret the incident in which the flag of Romania was used inappropriately to transport garden waste. We offer public apologies for this situation and are treating the incident with all seriousness,” Neculai Miron, Mayor of Bosanci said.
Mayor of Bosanci
Mayor Blames Workers While Residents Offer Differing Accounts
The mayor provided explanations regarding the incident. He told Antena 3 CNN that the individuals were “inconștienți” and lacked the education to understand the flag’s significance. He also noted that the workers were of Roma ethnicity. This characterization drew pushback from journalist Mădălina Mihalache, who noted that the workers’ ethnicity was irrelevant. A local resident told Bucovina TV Regional that he had found the flag torn and placed it behind a wall one week prior to the incident, offering a different account regarding the flag's status before it was used.
Mayor Miron further claimed that the workers had equipment such as wheelbarrows available, but they chose to use the flag instead. He insisted that the responsibility for the lack of education provided to these individuals lay with the state.
Party Pushes Controversial Legislation Regarding National Symbols
The incident has drawn ironic attention to a legislative proposal initiated by the mayor’s own party, AUR, which was placed on the agenda of the Chamber of Deputies in September. The project, which passed the Senate in 2023, sought to tighten the legal framework regarding the national flag.
Among the proposed, yet controversial, provisions in the AUR-backed bill are fines of up to 10,000 lei for officials who refuse to kiss the national flag and 20,000 lei for media institutions that fail to allocate at least 30 minutes of airtime to celebrate the flag.
