Anti-Hungarian sentiment and hate speech have risen to alarming proportions in recent days in Romania, as social media and news channels have been overflooded with nationalistic messages directed against the Hungarian community by Romanian politicians, journalists, social media influencers and opinion-makers. In the midst of a political crisis, the Romanian political elite, with considerable boost from the media, once again flashes the so-called “Hungarian card”, and turns the public opinion against the Hungarian community in Romania. Instead of focusing on the issues at hand, namely an internal crisis within the largest political formation in Parliament – the Social Democratic Party (PSD) – with the potential of turning into a veritable governmental crisis, the media quickly managed to divert the public’s attention by launching a tirade of lies and openly xenophobic comments against the Hungarian community.
CLEAR LEGISLATION – PROBLEMATIC APPLICATION
The fight for bilingual place name signs is a constant struggle for the Hungarian community in Romania. Even though there is a law which states that in localities where a minority constitutes at least 20% of the population, road signs have to be bilingual, new cases of non-compliance appear almost on a monthly basis.
LINGUISTIC RIGHTS CONSTANTLY UNDER FIRE
Only a few days after three Romanian parties questioned the legitimacy of a law stating that minorities can use their mother tongue within the healthcare system, linguistic rights are under fire once again, as the Covasna County Prefect objected to the use of bilingual application forms for funding provided by the Covasna County Council.
THE PERSECUTION OF THE SZEKLER FLAG CONTINUES
In this week’s newsletter we also report that the Covasna County Prefect’s Office recently ordered the Szekler flag to be removed from a monument in Micfalău/Mikóújfalu. Officials from the prefect’s office were conducting a routine inspection at the local council, when they noticed the Szekler flag hoisted on the monument dedicated to the memory of the soldiers that died in the First and Second World Wars.
MINORITY RIGHTS IN ROMANIA: ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK?
After initially voting in favour of a proposed amendment by the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ/UDMR), which was meant to extend the linguistic rights of minorities in the fields of healthcare and social assistance, three parties, namely the National Liberal Party (PNL), the Save Romania Union (USR) and the People’s Movement Party (PMP), objected to the proposed amendment at the Constitutional Court of Romania. This sudden change of opinion on the part of the three parties is both absurd and offensive, and can only be interpreted as an assault against the Hungarian community and against human rights in general.