In several laws, as well as international treaties, Romania took commitments to guarantee the right of minorities to use their mother tongue in a wide range of areas. This is also emphasized in a recommendation released in March by the Council of Europe, in which the Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages draws attention to the importance of the use of regional and minority languages in the official communication of Member State governments during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unprecedented and severe anti-Hungarian discourse by the Romanian president
Severe anti-Hungarian statements made on the 29th of April by Romanian President Klaus Werner Iohannis shocked the approximately 1.2 million Hungarians living in the country. The President showcased his most primitive, aggressive and cynical side through his performance of last Wednesday, unprecedented in Romania since the regime change. The statements of the President were sparked by the tacit approval of a draft law on the autonomy of the Szeklerland region in the lower house of Parliament. Initiated by the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ), the main points of this documents are allowing important decisions affecting the region to be made at a local level, a larger percentage of the money generated by the region to remain there, and for the Hungarian language, spoken by the majority Hungarian population of the region, to receive official status alongside Romanian.
The prefect fines again for flags used during the national day of Hungarians
As prefects have repeatedly done in the past few years, the prefect of Covasna county once again fined Árpád Antal, the mayor of Sfântu Gheorghe/Sepsiszentgyörgy, with a total amount of 10 000 lei. Iulian Constantin Todor fined the mayor for decorating the city with the colours of the Hungarian flag, on the occasion of the March 15th celebrations, and for failing to put up a Romanian flag next to each Hungarian flag and cockade.
Once again severe anti-Hungarian hate speech at the football stadium
On March 4th, in the quarterfinals of the Romanian Cup, Sepsi OSK played against FC Petrolul Ploiești in the home town of the latter. During the match the supporters of the home team displayed such extreme anti-Hungarian behaviour that the game had to be interrupted for 10 minutes. The team from Sfântu Gheorghe/Sepsiszentgyörgy (a city with a majority Hungarian population) was accompanied by more than 100 supporters, who also became the targets of xenophobic chants.
Romanians in Szeklerland are holding a provocative protest event in advance of Hungarian national day celebrations
On March 14th the Romanian community of Szeklerland are planning to celebrate the day of solidarity with Romanians in Covasna, Harghita and Mureș counties, through a series of events in Sfântu Gheorghe/Sepsiszentgyörgy entitled Romanians for Romanians. The event is organised by the Civic Forum of Romanians in Covasna, Harghita and Mureș County and is planned to take place at the Museum of Romanian Spirituality.