Another draft bill was submitted into the Romanian parliament that aims to make national minorities uncomfortable in the country. A Senate proposal by the extremist AUR senator, Gheorghe-Adrian Cătană, suggests declaring November 24 as the “Day of Respect for the Romanian Nation”, thus forcing national minorities in Romania to participate in humiliating public display of “respect” towards the Romanian nation.
According to the first article of the proposal, November 24 would be designated as “The Day of Respect for the Romanian Nation, by Ethnic Minorities.” Under the proposal, national minorities would be obligated to respect Romanians.
Another issue concerns the wording of Article 2 of the proposal: “The Parliament, the presidential office, the Government, as well as the local administrative authorities subordinate to or under the jurisdiction of these bodies shall organize or provide logistical and financial support for cultural, artistic, or educational events dedicated to the national holiday defined in Article 1.”, namely these bodies would be under the obligation to organise such public events for minorities to perform public displays of “respect”.
Therefore, if the proposed law by the Romanian Unity Alliance (AUR) senator, known for his anti-Hungarian stance, were to be adopted, every mayor would be obliged to organize such an event, regardless of whether there is a minority in the locality or not.
The AUR has already introduced numerous similar proposals in the Romanian Parliament aimed at inciting hatred against Hungarians.
Earlier, another AUR parliamentary representative, Mircea Chelaru, submitted a proposal related to national flag day ceremonies. According to the proposal, participation in the flag ceremony would be mandatory for everyone, including school students, and every mayor would have to kiss the flag. Failure to do so could result in fines or even criminal proceedings. The essence of this provision is that every mayor in Szeklerland would be required to kiss the Romanian flag at least once a year.
Erika Benkő, the head of the Mikó Imre Legal Service, explained “I haven’t heard of such practices in the civilised world, this idea is against the very value of personal freedom. The only country I am aware of, that forces its citizens to perform these public displays, is North-Korea. Surely that is not the path Romania wants to take. I find it highly regrettable that there are political forces in Romania, who’s only concern is to agitate towards national minorities or to aim at them with every occasion. These are non-issues, and frankly, I’d much rather see draft bills submitted in the Parliament that actually serve the best interest of all Romanian citizens, not constant agitation towards vulnerable groups.”
(Photo: FACEBOOK/RADU-VICENȚIU GRĂDINARU)