Severe anti-Hungarian statements made on the 29th of April by Romanian President Klaus Werner Iohannis shocked the approximately 1.2 million Hungarians living in the country. The President showcased his most primitive, aggressive and cynical side through his performance of last Wednesday, unprecedented in Romania since the regime change. The statements of the President were sparked by the tacit approval of a draft law on the autonomy of the Szeklerland region in the lower house of Parliament. Initiated by the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ), the main points of this documents are allowing important decisions affecting the region to be made at a local level, a larger percentage of the money generated by the region to remain there, and for the Hungarian language, spoken by the majority Hungarian population of the region, to receive official status alongside Romanian.
Unprecedented and severe anti-Hungarian discourse by the Romanian president
President Iohannis accuses Transylvanian Hungarians of secessionism
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis accused the ethnic Hungarian minority in Transylvania, the Social Democratic Party and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of plotting to give Transylvania to Hungary. And this was neither a blunder nor careless wording: It was a two-minute video statement released by the President’s Office.
Orthodox Easter may set back Romania’s coronavirus fight
While Transylvanians belonging to the Reformed, Catholic, Lutheran and Unitarian denominations celebrated their Easter last week in their homes, following the strict safety regulations adopted to stop the spread of the coronavirus, the Romanian Orthodox majority can enjoy their Easter with relaxed restrictions as a result of an agreement between the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Romanian Orthodox Church. Home Affairs Minister Marcel Vela announced on Thursday evening that the authorities have allowed for the distribution of the Holy Light on Easter night and the blessed bread (Paste) on Friday and Saturday.
The prefect fines again for flags used during the national day of Hungarians
As prefects have repeatedly done in the past few years, the prefect of Covasna county once again fined Árpád Antal, the mayor of Sfântu Gheorghe/Sepsiszentgyörgy, with a total amount of 10 000 lei. Iulian Constantin Todor fined the mayor for decorating the city with the colours of the Hungarian flag, on the occasion of the March 15th celebrations, and for failing to put up a Romanian flag next to each Hungarian flag and cockade.
Once again severe anti-Hungarian hate speech at the football stadium
On March 4th, in the quarterfinals of the Romanian Cup, Sepsi OSK played against FC Petrolul Ploiești in the home town of the latter. During the match the supporters of the home team displayed such extreme anti-Hungarian behaviour that the game had to be interrupted for 10 minutes. The team from Sfântu Gheorghe/Sepsiszentgyörgy (a city with a majority Hungarian population) was accompanied by more than 100 supporters, who also became the targets of xenophobic chants.