Călin Georgescu, former presidential candidate, launched an aggressive attack against the organization representing the interests and political rights of Hungarians in Romania, RMDSZ/UDMR/DAHR, employing typical far-right and legionary rhetoric.
Georgescu revived a popular narrative among Romanian extremist groups, when suggesting that the political representation of Hungarians should be banned. He also clearly referred to the Hungarian ethnicity of Romania’s current Minister of Finance, Tánczos Barna, when he criticized the “current system” for allowing someone with dual citizenship, specifically a Hungarian, to hold the position of Finance Minister. This is a clear incitement and threat against the Hungarian community, implying that a Hungarian person cannot serve as Finance Minister in Romania solely due to their ethnicity.
“I believe that if this housing association—because it’s not a party—were to be investigated even slightly, which it likely will be very soon, a lot would come to light. This housing association is called the RMDSZ. Nobody has touched them for 35 years, nobody has questioned them. They’ve been the service hinge, and this hinge hasn’t just been a hinge. If today the Finance Minister holds dual citizenship, just think how far the incompetence of the current system has gone. They should be the ones answering questions, not me. I have nothing to answer for. I stand upright before God, and it will be a great honor to meet my ancestors when the time comes. They cannot do the same,” stated Călin Georgescu on Realitatea Plus tv.
The vicious attack came after Kelemen Hunor revealed that the so-called “anti-system candidate,” Călin Georgescu, is in fact “a candidate of the old system, supported by a network of reservists within Romania’s secret services.” The leader of the RMDSZ also sharply criticized the state institutions’ passivity regarding Călin Georgescu, despite Romanian authorities having known about his extremist views for years: “For years, state institutions have known who Georgescu really is. He has propagated and continues to propagate the ideas of the Iron Guard, the Legionnaires, and the far-right—ideas that recall the darkest periods of the 20th century, which he openly endorses and supports,” said Kelemen Hunor.
Erika Benkő, head of the Mikó Imre Legal Protection Service, stated, “Georgescu’s anti-Hungarian sentiment is not new to us. We’ve seen his previous statements about Hungarians, specifically his remark that we should be content with that fact that we got ‘water and land”. This latest outburst clearly demonstrates—if anyone still had doubts—that Georgescu is indeed a supporter of the Iron Guard’s legionary ideology, using the same rhetoric about Hungarians as AUR or Șoșoacă. His comments fit perfectly into this pattern. We can expect nothing good from this man, and it is particularly unfortunate that he has managed to mislead so many people. I hope that most people will be sobered by Georgescu’s intention to abolish Hungarian political representation or to allow people to hold public positions in this country based on ethnic criteria.”
(Photo: Mediafax)