In last week’s newsletter we reported on the case of the II. Rákóczi Ferenc Roman-Catholic School in Tîrgu-Mureș/Marosvásárhely. None of the issues reported have yet been solved, what is more, the situation has taken a turn for the worse as some strange new developments arise. The parents of the pupils have recently been summoned to testify by the Romanian National Anticorruption Directorate. As news of this broke in the media however, the parents received a visit from the prosecutors, were asked to hand over their citations, and then the prosecutors proceeded to tear up the document in their presence, saying that it is no longer valid.
This year’s enrolment plan for Mureș County was soon afterwards made public. However, the Roman-Catholic School did not figure among the options listed. The Roman-Catholic Archdiocese of Alba Iulia and the directorate of the Roman-Catholic Status of Transylvania Foundation were shocked to find out that the Mureș County School Inspectorate illegally adopted a resolution, in which they prohibited the Roman-Catholic School to start the enrolment procedures, even though its enrolment plan had previously been approved.
“The Roman-Catholic Archdiocese of Alba Iulia addressed a letter to the Minister of Education, in which it requests the competent authorities to take the necessary steps in order to cease the illegalities. Otherwise the rights of our parishioners to freely choose a school for their children will be violated, our teachers’ employment will cease as a consequence of the direct termination of the teaching positions previously approved, and last but not least, the protocol agreed upon by the Conference of the Catholic Bishops and the Ministry of Education concerning the organisation of the Catholic theological education shall also be violated” – said archbishop Dr. JAKUBINYI György in relation to the case.
Kelemen Hunor, the president of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ), repeatedly drew attention to the abuses committed by the prosecutors against the Hungarian community. “The undermining of the Roman-Catholic School in Tîrgu-Mureș/Marosvásárhely is testing the patience of the Hungarian community, and it is an example of how prosecutorial measures can push a Hungarian institution towards shutdown” – declared the president of UDMR/RMDSZ.
KELEMEN pointed out that he had informed the Presidential Administration of the school’s case in the previous week, and he had also acquainted the President with the situation in person. “We turn to the President yet again, because we believe that when we have exhausted the tools available to us at a local level, we must turn to those forums and institutions where a solution is possible. I also pointed out that what happened the past week is unacceptable under the rule of law: they question what we have been trying to build in this country, together with the majority population, for 27 years” – said Hunor KELEMEN.