The Mikó Imre Legal Protection Service has learned with shock and outrage that George Simion, president of the AUR, is attempting to downplay his active involvement in the cemetery occupation incident that took place at the military cemetery in the Úz Valley. During the incident, a violent crowd—of which Simion was also a member—forced open the cemetery gate, assaulted peaceful Hungarian individuals who were praying and defending the cemetery, and then played Romanian folk music, climbed onto the crosses, and waved flags to the rhythm of the music.
Our Service once again draws attention to the fact that, despite having successfully won all legal cases, and as a result the municipality of Dărmănești being compelled to remove the unlawfully erected crosses, the extremist, virulently anti-Hungarian and fascist organization that serves as the civil wing of the AUR, namely Calea Neamului, erected new crosses in the cemetery after the final court ruling, blatantly disregarding the law. As a result, these illegal crosses remain present in the cemetery despite the court having clearly declared them unlawful.
Furthermore, we also wish to highlight that this same organization—which, we reiterate, is closely linked to the AUR party, and for which this cemetery occupation marked the beginning of Simion’s political career—has since continued, undisturbed, its provocative and desecrating ceremonies in the cemetery. In other words, year after year, on multiple occasions annually, they repeat these acts of desecration. Recently, they carried out similarly disruptive activities in the village of Bölön in Covasna County, promoting the same alternative and false historical narrative there as they did in the Úz Valley.
Our Service calls on Simion not to deny his involvement in the violent cemetery occupation, but instead to apologize to the Hungarian community—not only for his unacceptable conduct at the time, but also for the broader pattern of anti-Hungarian activities that he and Dan Tanasă, a member of his party, have been organizing and carrying out in a systematic and targeted manner for years. We remind him that he himself livestreamed from the scene, and that detailed video recordings of the grotesque and desecrating events are available for anyone to view. In addition, our Service has produced a documentary about the unfortunate incident, which we recommend to anyone who wishes to understand exactly what happened.
“I find it outrageous that Simion believes that in the age of social media and mobile phones—where any claim can be verified with just two clicks—people can be misled, and that such a serious incident can simply be denied. I also believe that in a civilized country, such a person should not be a party leader, and indeed should not hold any public office whatsoever. This is a destructive, subversive organization that deliberately poisons the peaceful coexistence of communities. Instead of denial, Simion should apologize to Hungarians and distance himself from the anti-Hungarian activities of Dan Tanasă as well,” stated Erika Benkő, head of the Mikó Imre Legal Protection Service.