Respected and not debated

I was having a debate with someone just the other day about the Szekely of Transylvania...he suggested that they are not anti-Romanian at all and that a post I wrote back in July 2008 was insulting to a whole people... I stand by my views that there exists in Transylvania amongst the Hungarian community a great deal of anti-Romanian feeling (not that there isn't the same going in the contrary direction!) - villages where noone speaks the language of the country in which they live and schools where Roumanian isn't compulsory (which I still find astonishing)... and now I see this in Gandul. Bravo to Boc for his response.

Of course, the Szekely situation in Roumania has many parallels to that of the Israel/Palestine conflict. Who was there first? Who occupied who? And yes, similarly, it was we in the west who decided what was to come, in this case, the Treaty of Trianon when Transylvania was given to Roumania (Roumania became Romania Mare) and Eastern Europe was chopped up into bits like a patchwork quilt - we sold whole coutries down the river into the hands of the soviets, just for starters and the consequences for millions were disastrous. However, centuries before, the Dacians themselves fought the Romans on what is today Transylvanian territory...ah, the spaghetti mess of history, the complications, the often half convenient truths (and sometimes bare-faced lies) that we are taught, read about and learn in school...

For the life of me, I couldn't understand why on earth Roumania would not recognise Kosovo. Now, a little late and leaving me feeling more than very dumb indeed, the penny has dropped. Of course, that's why!

Laszlo Tokes asks that Szeklerland become autonomous, after the International Court of Justice in the Hague recognized the independence of Kosovo. What was Boc's reply?

ieri, 21:32

Gandul

Laszlo Tokes asks that Szeklerland become autonomous, after the International Court of Justice in the Hague recognized the independence of Kosovo. What was Boc's reply?

Laszlo Tokes, Vice President of the European Parliament, stated on Thursday that if it is necessary, the Szekler-Hungarians should go out on the streets and demand the autonomy of Szeklerland, comparing the region to Kosovo. The European Parliament VP mentioned that if a micro-region, roughly the same size as Szeklerland, was able to gain its autonomy, the same could be possible for Szeklerland.

"We have to go out on the streets if need be. If necessary, the Szekler-Hungarians will need a Catalan model, but then you (e.n. Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania) won't be in power anymore, because we would be manifesting against you", stated Tokes at the "Tusvanyos" Summer University.

Tokes stated that he is convinced that there will be autonomy in Transylvania, but he mentioned that it will be more difficult to obtain, because some representatives of the Magyar community no longer believe in it. "I felt that the dialog with the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania wasn't fully sincere. The National Autonomy Council was unable to draft a memorandum signed by all the local administrations, which should have made its way to Europe by now", said Tokes.

Tokes added that the Hungarian voter core must not be lost. "We mustn't lose our voter core; let us not wake up and see we no longer have any representation in Transylvania, because we cannot allow this and we must not become the victims of political assimilation", he said.

Boc: The Constitution is something to be respected, not debated

On Friday, Prime Minister Emil Boc answered the statements of European Parliament VP Tokes Laszlo regarding autonomy: "Romania has a Constitution that is to be respected, not debated", replied Boc to a press question on the topic (e.n. reference to Art. 152 on the Limits of Constitutional Revision, which states that the "national, independent, unitary, and indivisible character of the Romanian republic, the republican form of government, territorial integrity, independence of justice, political pluralism and official language may not be included in the scope of any Constitutional Revision").

and a day earlier, also from the English section (thank you!!!) of Gandul....str M. Eminescu to be changed to Atila str (just a suggestion...)??? :

The President of Romania and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban want to meet this weekend. What have they got to talk about?

de Raluca DUMITRIU | vineri, 13:37

The President of Romania and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban want to meet this weekend. What have they got to talk about?

President Traian Băsescu will be meeting, most probably on Sunday, with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the two having been invited to take part in the Băile Tuşnad (Harghita County) 21st edition of the Tusványos Summer University and Student Camp

Sources from both sides have confirmed that there will be a discussion between the head of state and the Hungarian Prime Minister, but that the time and place have yet to be established. Sándor Krisztina of the event organizers said that the meeting could take place in Miercurea-Ciuc, Târgu Mureş or even at the Tusvanyos Camp.

The withdrawal from Government of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania, the Hungarian dual citizenship law or the Magyarization of street names in Ardeal

Speculations have been made lately as to what topics of discussion could be approached during the tête-à-tête, but the most important of the subjects would be the withdrawal from Government of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania, after several local leaders and almost 10 MPs of the Alliance, led by Gyorgy Frunda, asked for this, not being in agreement with the austerity measures imposed by the Government. Traian Băsescu and Viktor Orban could also talk of the law due to be adopted in Budapest, regarding granting dual citizenship to persons of Hungarian descent that live in countries neighboring Hungary. The meeting between the two also occurs after several initiatives have been submitted to Ardeal area County Councils to Magyarize the names of streets. The latest of these was submitted by some youngsters from Miercurea-Ciuc, who want to change a street's name from Mihai Eminescu St. (the name of Romania's national poet) to Attila St. (a common Hungarian name). Viktor Orban is expected to arrive at the Tusvanyos Camp Friday evening, and to take part in debates on the topic of "Is Central Europe the center of Europe?", together with European Parliament Vice President Tőkés László, in a discussion moderated by Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs State Secretary Németh Zsolt. The event, organized by the "Pro Minority" Foundation of Budapest and by the Council of Hungarian Youths in Romania, will end on Sunday.

Comments

[sairj]

Mama mea says she had exactly the same experience in Cluj when she was doing her internship at Radio Cluj back in 1957. She went to buy 'sunca' at the local grocery and was refused service - the sales woman told her 'nem tu dom romania'(sorry, can't spell anything in Hungarian!) and ignored her, serving the next person in line. Furious and indignant, she returned later with a colleague from the radio station who spoke Hungarian and thus got her 100g of sunca....that's just one story and this was also 50 years ago. So much for the wheels of change...

[Emil]

even close to my flat in bucharest it is a high school for hungarian minority, i-ve never had the chance to confront this ”problem” untill january 1982. I was 13 and i was in a winter camp in Tusnad, Harghita county. First shock for me it was, when visiting the town, that all the names of the shops were in hungarian. Then I learnt my first words in hungarian. The second shock it was to discover that when asking a ”covrig” in the ”Kenyer (bread)” shop, the lady who served a lot of people refused to speak in romanian... I can remember how angry and defying was that bitch, I saw the hatred in her eyes... Me and my friends were shocked and told to our teacher what happened... Remember, it was communism time, thay had rights but...