Since he returned to power in 2010, Orban has pumped millions of euros through grants and NGOs towards Hungarian communities in Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine, with the influx of money increasing after 2016. This is what the Romanian interior minister [Gavril Dejeu] said to assure those concerned about endeavours to achieve autonomy for the area of Harghita and Covasna Counties of Transylvania where ethnic Hungarians constitute the majority of the population. The report says that this process was intended to lead to the creation of a Hungarian enclave, as a first step to territorial separation. The Salaj County prefect post has been renegotiated with the coalition partners and an agreement has been reached that the UDMR will give up the county leader's post here . Tensions and demonstrations by ethnic Hungarians followed. On a visit to Bucharest last month, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto ruled out any change of course. The autonomy of Szeklerland does not violate the territorial unity and sovereignty of Romania, it does not violate the interests of the Romanian people living in Szeklerland, and it does not contradict the constitution of the country! The UDMR (Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania, ) which is a junior partner in the ruling coalition, seeks to speed up the adoption of the amended bill and, therefore, backs an emergency ordinance being passed by the government . They say that as the province is more developed economically than the rest of the country, this would allow for more rapid integration into the EU. Several VR representatives proposed that Bishop Tokes be exiled from Romania. "Everyone knows that the funding -- 25 million euros ($30 million) -- comes from Hungary," club vice-president David Kertesz told AFP. Running kindergartens, schools and even a university, the Catholic and protestant churches in Transylvania are deeply embedded in ethnic Hungarian communities and are often the only provider of community programmes and support in small towns and villages. (World News Digest, 03/23/90. Of course, this was not a one-sided move. There was never a strong anti-migrant propaganda in Romania, Kiss said. Four people in Kezdivasarhely Tirgu Secuiesc, western Romania have been sentenced to imprisonment. Chairman of the Gretaer Romania Party PRM, said at a meeting in Brasso Brasov that, "If the UDMR brings autonomy to the eastern Transylvanian counties of Hargita Harghita and Kovaszna Covasna then, the next day, we will take the Hungarians' electricity, water and air so that they suffocate,". This also serves the interests of Romania., This content is not available in your region.
The editor in chief of Romanian national television today called on Senator Gyoergy Frunda, the UDMR's presidential candidate, not to use the Hungarian language any more in his election video clips sent to Romanian television for broadcasting. 1998 December 14: The Bucharest court of appeals has upheld a complaint put forward by the Romanian opposition against the establishment of the Petoefi-Schiller University. He sent a letter to President Iliescu explaining the reason for his protest action. Marko said that a written coalition agreement was not necessary and would not have provided a guarantee that the situation of the ethnic Hungarians would improve. Figures close to Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban are believed to be linked to the latest demands for more independence. (Source: BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 9/1/95), About 20,000 ethnic Hungarians protested in Odorheiu Secuiesc against the new Romanian Education Law, which among other things, prohibits teaching in any minority language, including Hungarian. (BBC, 05/24/90.) (Source: BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 11/16/95), Adam Katona, spokesman for the Transylvanian Hungarian Initiative, a platform of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania UDMR, has been on hunger strike for two weeks. (BBC, 03/09/91.) Iliescu, however, said it was a political mistake for the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (HDUR) to distance itself from the National Salvation Front. (Source: BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 6/28/97), Activists of the Romanian nationalist umbrella organization Vatra Romaneasca have painted over the Hungarian portion of bilingual road and place-name signs at several points in the neighborhood of the Romanian town of Tirgu Mures [which has a large ethnic Hungarian population]. The Pro Economica Foundation, one of the vehicles Budapest uses to allocate the money, rejects accusations of discrimination, insisting that it "never checks the ethnicity" of those who receive its funds. An agreement on minority rights was signed between the government and representatives of ethnic Hungarians, guaranteeing, among other clauses, bilingual street signs in areas with Hungarian populations of at least 30% and the training of Hungarian-speaking school teachers. The cash has flowed to schools, stadiums and small factories across Transylvania, home to most of Romania's 1.2 million ethnic Hungarians -- over six percent of the country's population. Romania and Hungary had barred dual citizenship under a 1979 bilateral agreement. Hungary filed a diplomatic protest over a Romanian ban on the import of Hungarian-language books to Romania's Transylvania region. They can be liberals, peasant party adherents, environment protectors, but let them be active in those parties which use the Romanian language in this country" (BBC, 06/08/91). Transylvania holds a special place in Hungarian national identity and the trauma harnessed by Fidesz of the post-World War One carve-up of the Austro-Hungarian empire that cost pre-1920 Hungary two-thirds of its territory and stranded half its population beyond the borders of the redrawn state. "Now there can be no doubts at all that the final form of the autonomy proposal presented by the HDUR was approved by high level officials at the Hungarian Ministry of Defence" (BBC, 01/21/93). A statement released by the UDMR claimed attacks against the Hungarians in Romania are becoming more frequent, with extremely-worded scare-mongering among them. Thats why the Hungarian state prefers them to any non-governmental organisation.. (Source: BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 12/15/97), State Secretary Laszlo Borbely, Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania [UDMR] deputy, has said that reports claiming that during coalition-forming talks the UDMR was offered the Health Ministry portfolio are true. This is the next step in making the trail of the money coming from Hungary totally opaque.. There are around 600,000 ethnic Hungarians living in Szeklerland, making up 75% of the regions population. As a consequence of Hungarys domination of media consumption, if the main ethnic Hungarian political party in Romania, RMDSZ, wants to reach its voters, it must often turn to Hungarian broadcasters, increasing its dependency on the Hungarian government.
(Source: BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 10/8/97), The parliamentary group of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania [UDMR] advanced to the permanent bureau of the Chamber of Deputies a draft decision on the prevention and fight against national and local minority discrimination. One of the recipients of Pro Economica grants is the Csiki Chips crisp factory in Transylvania's Harghita region, which is trying to help stem that tide. The Romanian Chamber of Deputies passed a Law on Education by a vote of 206 to 39, with 14 abstentions. The complex also boasts an ice skating rink and a hotel, and is overseen by the Mens Sana foundation, a Romanian NGO which receives funding from Budapest. But the next day a call comes from Budapest asking RMDSZ, Whats your problem with us?, Akos Keller Alant is an award-winning investigative journalist and a news editor at Hungarian magazine Magyar Narancs. An UDMR spokesperson said protest action will continue against the Romanian Education Law because a ministerial decree allowing the use of Hungarian in exams leaves other provisions of the law which "strip people of their rights" untouched and only applies for one year. Indeed, most Hungarians there get their news from content produced in Hungary. Funar called on the head of state [President Emil Constantinescu] to request that the general prosecutor take steps against the UDMR's extremist leaders. Viorel Hrebenciuc, Secretary General of the Romanian government, a post equivalent to deputy premier, cut short a visit to Hungary after being snubbed in an escalating dispute over Romania's treatment of its Hungarian minority. The money came from the Hungarian state, as one small part of a funding line from Budapest to Hungarians in Romania worth at least 150 million euros since 2016 and growing. Furthermore the chairman said this decision is only a postponement, but that the coalition partners must be given a chance to prove their sincerity over their Hungarian-German university proposal and their commitment to the coalition's minority-related program. (Source: BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 3/14/96), The Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania [UDMR] decided that Imre Andras, parliamentary deputy for Harghita County, will present a written protest to the Romanian interior minister against the fact that wreaths and Hungarian flags placed on the Petoefi Hungarian poet of 1848-49 revolution sculpture in Miercurea Ciuc on 15th March were torn off on Friday night 15th March and Saturday afternoon 16th March . The autonomy plans of the Magyars in Romania were prepared by Budapest, writes Dimineata (01/19/93), a semi-official daily of the Romanian presidential office. But it is important to emphasize this is what Transylvanian Hungarian leaders always wanted. In 2017, an organisation called the Transylvanian Media Space Association, or Erdlyi Mdiatr Egyeslet, had a budget of 140,000 euros and one small Hungarian-language online news outlet called Ftr based in the northwestern Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca, unofficial capital of the countrys Transylvania region. The DUMR said secession was impossible in any case given that regions where Hungarians formed the majority were in the center of Romania. (Source: BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 7/22/97), Gheorghe Funar [Cluj mayor and former leader of the Romanian National Unity Party, PUNR] is calling for the UDMR's [Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania] elimination both from the government and Romanian political life. Of the 10 million euros ($11.9 million) Mens Sana spent on the centre, 90 percent came from Hungarian taxpayers. The law, however, makes it possible for the UDMR to stand in the elections as a minority alliance. Issued on: 15/03/2021 - 06:24Modified: 15/03/2021 - 06:23.
Hungarians in Transylvania are not geographically concentrated but dispersed across the region in villages as well as large towns. "Orban is animated by a nationalist ideology" aimed at "maintaining compact ethnic communities, which allows them to obtain a certain autonomy", Tamas Kiss, a sociologist at the Romanian Institute for Research on National Minorities, told AFP. When Ftr says it is not censored, I believe them, said Zoltn Sipos, editor-in-chief of the only investigative media outlet for Romanias ethnic Hungarian community, tltsz Erdly, or Transparent Transylvania. The party doesnt have to call the editorial department if they want to ask for something, a source with knowledge of the site told BIRN. The autonomy of the Szeklerland as per the European practice means that the Szekler-Hungarian community, who make up the majority population in their homeland, would have the right and the actual capacity to manage, on their own responsibility and in the interests of the region, a substantial share of public affairs, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, and in the interest of all national communities living on its territory. Other big recipients are educational foundations such as the RMDSZ-founded Iskola Alaptvny and the church-founded Sapientia Alaptvny. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you. (Source: BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 11/20/95), A Council of Europe delegation has again arrived in Romania to assess and report on how Romania meets its obligations undertaken when admitted to the Council of Europe. Living like in Hungary: Orban Bankrolling Romania Ethnic Parallelism.
The UDMR plans to appeal the decision in the Supreme Court later this year. The bill submitted by the deputy group refers to the fact that in the autumn of 1944 a number of Hungarians were murdered by fascist Maniu guardsmen Iron Guard .
But, he said, self-censorship works just as well..
At the latest meeting of the nationalist, anti-Magyar organization Vatra Romaneasca (Romanian Hearth), speakers demanded that rights of the Magyar minority be severely curtailed. "Our life has changed a lot", says resident Zsolt Marton, adding he is grateful for the opportunities the academy gives his four children, aged between 11 and 23. Photo: Balzs Szecsdi, Press office of the Prime Minister, Hungary. Euronews revealed in 2015 that Budapest had given out 675,000 new Hungarian citizenships in just four years. There were 612 who believed that education in the ethnic minorities' mother tongues was the main problem of the ethnic Hungarian community in Romania. "It is not that I want a conflict, but the irresponsible leaders of the UDMR (HDUR) are capable of giving a signal for one." (Source: BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 10/2/98), Bela Marko, UDMR (Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania) chairman, has said that the party has decided not to leave the government. (Source: BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 9/4/95), Protest actions by ethnic Hungarians against the Romanian Education Law have continued in Transylvania. (Source: BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 5/20/99).
The nationalists have interpreted the HDUR statement as further proof that it aims to restore Transylvania to Hungarian rule (Financial Times, 10/30/92). It's the revival of Romanian nationalism." Erdlyi Mdiatr Egyeslet has since snapped up the most important Hungarian-language daily newspapers in Transylvania, several glossy magazines, a literary periodical, television and radio and the most important news portal, Szkelyhon.
The HDUR will carry out a separate census in the areas inhabited by nationalists with assistance from the Churches. The charge came after the appointment of two ethnic Romanian officials in Transylvanian prefectures inhabited mainly by ethnic Hungarians. (Source: BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 8/3/96), The head of Romanian public service television has forbidden Gyoergy Frunda, presidential candidate of the UDMR [Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania], to speak in Hungarian in his political TV advertisements. The UDMR spokesperson said that the group will continue its protest program because it must think in the long term. The appointments ran counter to the Romanian government's declared wish for integration into European Community structures, according to HDUR (Financial Times, 03/30/93). A group of Hungarian public figures has addressed an open letter to European heads of states concerning the recent death threat to Bishop Tokes by a group calling itself the Romanian People's Court (BBC, 01/10/92). Representatives of the ruling party accused the HDUR and its leadership of revisionism. ), The HDUR is asking the Hungarian National Assembly to put a bill ensuring parliamentary representation for Hungarian national minorities on the legislative agenda once again. Sipos, who has investigated the Hungarian spending in Transylvania, said the Church spent half of its allotment on renovating churches and considerable sums on upgrading kindergartens, community buildings, homes for the elderly and other properties belonging to the Church.
They did so because it became clear that the regulation was not going to compel the civil servants to know the language of a minority in an area where a minority constitute mores than 20 per cent of the population.
It notes that "Romania should renounce the official tenet that it is a unified national state and the Romanian government should begin democratic discussions with the ethnic groups about their political, economic, cultural and social rights on the basis of the peoples rights to self-determination." The bill will be written in such a way that the formation of parties on ethnic grounds will no longer be possible.
(Source: BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 3/18/97), A proposed amendment that would legalize class instruction in languages besides Romanian to the Education Law is drawing rifts within the Romanian ruling coalition. (Source: BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 6/8/99), A group of Romanian and ethnic Hungarian and German intellectuals in Transylvania has raised the issue of granting increased autonomy and self-government for the region. But the often dilapidated infrastructure of their region, while not uncommon in one of the EU's poorest countries, also fuels perceptions among the minority of being "abandoned" by Bucharest. Arguments were made that the Magyars are demanding Transylvania's return to Hungary. The present UDMR candidate for Romania's presidency, Gyoergy Frunda, declared: It is obvious that in the last four years the UDMR has lost the unconditional support of the Magyars in Romania. However, Hungary unilaterally abrogated the pact. Sometimes, an op-ed might criticise Fidesz. This is not a UNHCR publication. The Church is led by Bla Kat, who has dismissed widespread speculation that he is a good friend of Orban, saying they have only a good relationship.
But racism was always strong here against Roma people for example. France 24 is not responsible for the content of external websites. The UDMR, which is a member of the Romanian coalition government, took the decision after some coalition party senators voted with the opposition in the education law debate. This post is also available in this language: And media consumption is crucial, he said. "We have resisted, and so far nobody has been evicted, but people are very frightened," said Zoltan Tibori, editor of the town's Hungarian language newspaper (Chicago Tribune, 05/15/95). Ethnic Hungarians denied they wanted to secede from Romania in a move aimed at defusing a political row created by a recent declaration that they desired self-government. Audience ratings certified by ACPM/OJD.
He asked President Iliescu to make it possible for seven Hungarians from Zetea; presumably those imprisoned for their alleged involvement in the killing of Romanian policemen in December 1989 and granted amnesty in 1994 who have spent five years in exile to return unhurt to Szeklerland, their homeland. Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania [UDMR] deputies walked out of parliament today when the Chamber of Deputies was voting on a bill on the status of civil servants. Seven thousand students and 1,500 parents formed a human chain around the Hungarian schools for quarter of an hour. Photo: Photo: Akos Keller Alant. And according to research conducted by Kiss, Transylvanian Hungarians spend twice as much time watching channels from Hungary than Romanian-language channels 100 minutes per day on average. The opposition claims to be resisting the notion of establishing a Hungarian/German language university because it would violate the Romanian constitution. Participating in the event were 4,000 inhabitants of Hungarian nationality in the city of Targu Mures, alongside the leadership of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR), which was represented by president Bela Marko and Ferenc Szocs, Hungary's ambassador in Bucharest.
An eviction notice targeted 200 ethnic Hungarians said to be illegally occupying state-owned flats at the Transylvanian University town of Cluj-Napoca. It does however say that part of its mission is to ensure "sustainable economic development and job creation", describing this as "crucial for Romania's ethnic Hungarians to be able to stay in the country".
University Sapientia. Copy/paste the article video embed link below: Explained: the Hungarians in Romania marching for more independence, there was a march by one group of ethnic Hungarians, revealed in 2015 that Budapest had given out 675,000 new Hungarian citizenships in just four years, Hungary's top diplomat visits Moscow to negotiate gas supplies despite EU sanctions, Hungarian lawmakers move to curb power of EU Parliament, EU 'shot itself in the lungs' with sanctions against Russia, says Orban. (Source: BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 10/4/98), In a recent survey of 2000 Romanian citizens of ethnic Hungarian origin living in Transylvania 736 said they believe that territorial autonomy is the most important problem to be solved. The HDUR board decided that until the next congress of the union, the presidium would decide on political matters, while it would take decisions together with the federation's parliamentary group in debates regarding the new draft Romanian constitution. Yes, there are ethnic Hungarians that live in Transylvania, a central Romanian region that used to be part of Hungary.