Ethnic discrimination, violation of language rights, disrespect and humiliation – these are just a few of the problems that ethnic Hungarians working in a store in Transylvania’s Szeklerland have recounted to the Transindex news portal. Szeklerland – the historical and ethnographic area located in the eastern part of Transylvania – is still inhabited by a population with an ethnic Hungarian majority. The report published by Transindex is based on the anonymous accounts of two former cashiers who worked in the store of a multinational company and faced several forms of ethnic and linguistic discrimination, petty teasing, spite and threats.
Hungarian workers not allowed to speak Hungarian in Szeklerland store
Dan Tanasă fails to land job at discrimination watchdog
Despite his strong desire to “fight discrimination,” infamous blogger Dan Tanasă failed to get enough votes to secure a seat on the Romanian anti-discrimination council. Csaba Asztalos, however, was re-elected president of the institution, securing a mandate for a further five years.
As we previously reported, seven seats were up for grabs on the National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD), and 26 candidates were vying for them, including the openly nationalist Romanian activist Dan Tanasă, whom we don’t have to introduce.
The secret vote of Parliament resulted in the following (final) list of members of the anti-discrimination watchdog (nominating party in parentheses):
- Adrian Diaconu (PSD)
- Horia Grama (PSD)
- Csaba Asztalos(RMDSZ)
- Cristian Iura (PNL)
- Mariana Moț (PNL)
- Claudia Popa Sorina (PNL)
- Cătălina Olteanu (USR)
The members have also elected a president of the council: Csaba Asztalos received a mandate for another five years. He will be assisted in his duties by vice-president Adrian Diaconu, who will fulfill this position for two and a half years.
Asztalos has been on the council since 2002 and has served as its president for 15 years. As a new wave of anti-Hungarian manifestations have been gaining traction and other minorities are also experiencing discrimination, Asztalos says it is a big challenge to be president of the anti-discrimination council today.
(Source: Transylvanianow.com)
Szeklerland’s Hargita County “lost” the Békás Gorge to its neighbor
After a lawsuit that lasted nearly ten years, the Ploieşti Court of Appeals pronounced on Thursday its final decision in the border dispute between the Szekler city of Gyergyószentmiklós (Gheorgheni) and the municipality of Bicaz Chei. In a judgment that cannot be appealed, the court granted the territorial and administrative rights of the famously scenic Békás Gorge to the latter city.
Gyergyószentmiklós, the third biggest city of Hargita County in Transylvania’s Szeklerland, is bordered to the north and northeast by Neamţ County’s Bicaz Chei, part of the historical Romanian region of Moldova.
Infamous blogger Tanasă seeks seat on anti-discrimination council
Members of the Parliament will have to decide whether they will allow candidates such as the infamous Dan Tanasă to become a member of the National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD).
The Romanian discrimination watchdog has seven seats up for grabs, and 26 candidates are vying for them. The palette of candidates is very colourful, including a former cop who was charged with selling stolen cars (and who is against gender theory, by the way), a homophobe Orthodox councilor, and the like.
Romanian TV channel fined for anti-Hungarian content
The Realitatea Plus TV channel was fined for RON 20,000 (EUR 4,100) by the National Audiovisual Council of Romania, based on a complaint from – among others – the Mikó Imre Association for the Protection of Minority Rights. The fine was imposed for creating an anti-Hungarian atmosphere on two episodes of Game of Power, which aired on May 18 and 25, the association informed.