The names of the city in Hungarian and German have been painted over recently on the trilingual place name signs marking the entrances into Baia Mare/Nagybánya. Red-yellow-blue paint (the colours of the Romanian flag) is more and more frequently used to hide Hungarian inscriptions on various signs. This case is particularly grave, given that it concerns 12 of the 13 place name signs in the city, indicating that this action was planned and prepared in advance.
Protest in Bucharest against linguistic rights for Hungarians
Romanian civil society organisations held a protest in Bucharest to protect the Romanian language. They intended it as a continuation of protests held in July of last year, when organisers rallied against the then newly adopted Administrative Code in front of the government building. This time they gathered in front of the presidential palace, upon the call of an organisation called the Path of the Nation, as well as the mobilization by the Civic Forum of Romanians in Covasna, Hargita and Mureș counties.
Manipulation: RMDSZ president Hunor Kelemen falsely accused of spreading war propaganda by a retired Romanian general
Retired general Mircea Chelaru filed a complaint against the president of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ), accusing him of spreading war propaganda through comments made by the former following the incident in Valea Uzului/Úz-völgye on June 6th. The obvious goal of this was to publicly undermine Transylvanian Hungarians in the eyes of the international community, as well as the Romanian majority of the country, and also to distract attention from the actual problems, namely the 50 crosses illegally erected on the graves of the Hungarian soldiers, using public funds, despite the fact that Romanian authorities later confirmed that there are actually only 11 Romanian soldiers buried in the cemetery.
The Romanian Ministry of Culture approves legionary symbols
The situation regarding the illegal occupation of the war cemetery in Valea Uzului/Úz-völgye has arrived to a new chapter: the local government of Dărmănești/Dormánfalva started to retroactively acquire the permits necessary for the concrete crosses that they had already put up back in April. It is clear from this that in the moment of making these modifications in the cemetery the local government in question did not have the documents and permits required by law, but despite this, no charges have been brought against the local council or its leader.
Heightened anti-Hungarian atmosphere during the qualifying matches for the 2020 European Football Championship
During the qualifying round for the 2020 European Football Championship the Romanian national team first played in Norway, Oslo on the 7th of June, followed by a match on the 10th on the Ta’Qali National Stadium in Malta. During both games Romanian fans were continuously shouting anti-Hungarian slogans, even on the TV coverage one could hear for several minutes the sadly familiar chant: “Out with the Hungarians from the country!”