Aurica Bojescu () is a Ukrainian lawyer,

minority rights Minority rights are the normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or gender and sexual minorities, and also the collective rights accorded to any minority group. Civil-rights movements oft ...

activist and politician of

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

ethnicity. She is a representative of the Romanian community in Ukraine, being an advocate for minority rights for the ethnic minorities of the country. Bojescu also contributed to the drafting of the 1996

Constitution of Ukraine The Constitution of Ukraine (, ) is the fundamental law of Ukraine. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the ''Verkhovna Rada'', the parliament of Ukraine, on 28 June 1996. The constitution was passed with 315 ayes o ...

and was a member of the Chernivtsi Oblast Council for many years. She is a recipient of

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

's .

Biography

Aurica Bojescu is an ethnic

from

Chernivtsi Chernivtsi (, ; , ;, , see also #Names, other names) is a city in southwestern Ukraine on the upper course of the Prut River. Formerly the capital of the historic region of Bukovina, which is now divided between Romania and Ukraine, Chernivt ...

(),

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. She is a lawyer, and was one of the specialists that participated in the redaction of the 1996

. From 1998 to 2014, she was a member of the Chernivtsi Oblast Council, serving affiliated to the

Party of Regions A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

from 2006 to 2014. She also worked as an assistant for politician

Eduard Matviychuk Eduard Leonidovych Matviychuk (; born 27 April 1963) is a Ukrainian politician, who served as Governor of Odesa Oblast from 2010 to 2013, and later a People's Deputy of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. A member of the Party of Regions, Matviychuk was ...

. In 2005, Bojescu published ''Situația minorităților românești din Ucraina'' ("Situation of the Romanian Minorities of Ukraine"), a study on the

Romanians in Ukraine This article represents an overview on the history of Romanians in Ukraine, including those Romanians of Northern Bukovina, Zakarpattia, the Hertsa region, and Budjak in Odesa Oblast, but also those Romanophones in the territory between ...

. Bojescu has often acted as a representative for the Romanian minority in the region of

Northern Bukovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...

, and has actively protested against the deficient situation regarding the

of the Ukrainian Romanians (including the Ukrainian self-declared Moldovans), particularly in Romanian media. Bojescu is the president of the Bukovinian Independent Center for Current Studies. This organization is part of the larger Romanian Community of Ukraine Interregional Union, of which she is the responsible secretary. The Romanian Community of Ukraine Interregional Union is dedicated to supporting legislation in Ukraine offering proper minority rights to national ethnic minorities. In 2019, Bojescu was one of the several participants in a meeting between the Hungarian politician Zsolt Németh and

Thorbjørn Jagland Thorbjørn Jagland ( né Johansen; , 5 November 1950) is a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. He served as the secretary general of the Council of Europe from 2009 to 2019. He served as the prime minister of Norway from 1996 to 1997, a ...

Secretary General of the Council of Europe The Secretary General of the Council of Europe () is elected by the Parliamentary Assembly from a shortlist proposed by the Committee of Ministers for a term of five years. The secretary general is entrusted with the responsibility of meetin ...

. Several matters were discussed during the meeting, including the situation of the

minority language A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a territory. Such people are termed linguistic minorities or language minorities. With a total number of 196 sovereign states recognized internationally (as of 2019) and ...

s of Ukraine. She also met in 2022 with representatives of the Hungarian minority of Ukraine in the headquarters of the (KMKSZ). Bojescu was awarded the in the rank of "Knight", in the F Category ("The promotion of culture"), on 6 March 2025 by the

President of Romania The president of Romania () is the head of state of Romania. The president is directly elected by a two-round system, and, following a modification to the Romanian Constitution in 2003, serves for five years. An individual may serve two ter ...

. She received the award in appreciation of her "important contributions made to the promotion of Romanian language and literature ..for the preservation of Romanian traditions and civilization and the promotion of Romania's image in Ukraine". Victor Micula, Romania's ambassador to Ukraine, stated that the award was a culmination of her activities carried out over decades. Bojescu and two other Ukrainian Romanian figures received the award in a ceremony at the .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bojescu, Aurica Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Chernivtsi Ukrainian people of Romanian descent Romanian women lawyers Ukrainian women lawyers Minority rights activists Members of the Chernivtsi Oblast Council Party of Regions politicians Recipients of the Order of Cultural Merit (Romania)