Attila Dabis Ph.D., Foreign Affairs Commissioner of the Szekler National Council has been barred from entering Romania for three years, due to unspecified national security reasons. This measure is a violation of the right of citizens of the European Union to freedom of movement, it is completely unfounded, illegal, unconstitutional and in violation of fundamental human rights.

On 09 March 2018, I attempted to cross the Hungarian-Romanian border at the Ártánd-Bors border check point at 12:44 CET, together with a Swiss-Hungarian friend. After checking our ID cards, the Romanian border guard asked us to pull over to a nearby administration facility, where he informed me that I was barred from entering Romania.

Esteemed Madam Minister

Over the course of the past few years, I couldn’t help but notice that every time I cross Romania’s border, I am given special attention by the Romanian Border Police. On more than one occasion, I was forced to park my car, and wait nearly an hour by orders of the Border Police; sometimes the justification was computer failure, sometimes some other, equally untrue excuse. It didn’t take me long to discover, by studying the laws on border crossing in Romania, that I’m what is referred to as a „registered person” (persoana cu consemn). Such people are treated based on special legal dispositions, should they cross the border. 

The peace process ending the First World War has cut off Szeklerland from Hungary, placing it under the jurisdiction of a foreign country, Romania. At the same time, however, the Szekler peoples, together with Transylvanian Saxons, gained recognition as subjects of international law.

We are preparing for the Day of Szekler Freedom, in a year in which we commemorate the centenary of the Szekler National Council. Just as Paál Árpád’s plan for a Szekler Republic becomes a century old, so will the Szekler self-determination movement.

To The Government and Parliament of Romania

For his information: to Mr. President Klaus Johannis