The Mikó Imre Legal Protection Service learned of an incident that took place over the weekend in Cluj-Napoca, during which young people whose mother tongue is Hungarian were subjected to verbal intimidation on a city bus. The young people were speaking Hungarian among themselves when individuals on the bus, reportedly connected to supporters of the Universitatea Cluj football team, reacted in a hostile manner and verbally attacked them.
Based on the video recording available to us, the supporters addressed the young people in an aggressive tone and demanded that they stop speaking Hungarian. During the attack, statements were made such as “In Romania, speak Romanian,” “if you want to speak Hungarian, go to Budapest,” and “there is no place for the Hungarian language here.” It was also said that Hungarian is “the language of horses,” and that “you should speak the language of horses in Budapest, not here.”
The Mikó Imre Legal Protection Service unequivocally condemns such manifestations, which clearly constitute discrimination on linguistic and ethnic grounds, regardless of attempts by the authorities to frame them merely as disturbances of public order. There is no way not to qualify this as an ethnic attack. Our Service emphasizes on every occasion that the free use of one’s mother tongue is a fundamental right, and that exercising this right cannot serve as grounds for intimidation or aggression. We expect the authorities to act accordingly, as without firm action by the authorities such incidents cannot be prevented.
Erika Benkő, head of the Service, stated: “This is already the latest in a series of cases in Cluj-Napoca where Hungarians have been confronted because of speaking Hungarian, and it is not only football ultras who do this—similar incidents have occurred in other everyday situations in the city as well. Therefore, we would like not only the authorities to take action, but also for Universitatea Cluj to distance itself from the incident, and we would consider it appropriate for the city’s mayor to speak out on the matter as well. Our Service is considering addressing both the management of the football team and the city’s mayor in writing in the coming days, drawing their attention to the increasingly frequent anti-Hungarian incidents in the city and urging them to take a clear stance on the issue.”