Several members of DAHR reported last week to a special delegation of the European Commission on Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), who were on a fact-finding mission in Romania. DAHR also submitted a written report to ECRI, in which they highlighted some of the most pressing issues concerning the rights of the Hungarian community.
Among the concerns detailed in the shadow report presented by DAHR, one of the main issues relates to hate speech incidents over the course of 2017 and earlier this year, most of them in reaction to draft laws submitted by DAHR regarding the use of minority languages in the public administration, and declaring March 15th as the national day of Hungarians, respectively. Both of these shockingly increased the level of xenophobia and intolerance in Romania, with Romanian politicians and journalists alike joining in the hostile anti-Hungarian discourse.
The report also mentions the systematic discrimination that affects the historical region of Szeklerland. As an example, the authors of the report point to the banning of the Szekler flag from public spaces, as well as the fact that Romanian authorities refuse to grant legal personality to associations that refer to Szeklerland in their official name.
One of the representatives of the Hungarian minority, who personally informed ECRI on the various forms of discrimination faced by our community was Csilla HEGEDÜS, the Executive Vice-president of DAHR for culture. In her presentation she emphasized that “Romania applies a double standard when in comes to respecting the rights of national minorities, and the use of their symbols”.
Regarding the fierce opposition to the above-mentioned draft laws and the nationalistic wave that followed them in the media, in her presentation to the Commission, Erika BENKŐ, a DAHR member of parliament and leader of the Mikó Imre Minority Rights Legal Services Assistance, highlighted the fact that: “Unfortunately, dismissing ethnic alterity and intolerance is more prevalent than goodwill, even though minority-friendly legislation is meant to contribute to the general comfort of minorities, and the aim to improve relations between minority and majority by placing these on clear and transparent grounds.”