Bucharest considers autonomy requests a safety threat

Despite the hopes that had arisen from the election of a minority candidate as President of the country last November, Romania lately seems to return full-speed to the darkest pages of its recent past.

Within a period of just a month, EFA witnessed the Romanian authorities banning the annual demonstration during the Szekler Hungarians Freedom Day, arresting the mayor of Gyergyószentmiklós/Gheorgheni for displaying the Szekler flag during his inauguration and finally equating legitimate requests for autonomy with racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance.

More specifically, in the draft of the National Security Strategy for the period 2015-2020, the Romanian government lists some “serious risks that endanger the safety and prosperity of the population” which include “racism; xenophobia; extremism and other forms of intolerance; efforts to obtain autonomy on ethnic criteria for some regions;… “

EFA calls upon the Romanian government to retract this absolutely unacceptable statement immediately and in addition urges Bucharest to try and reconnect with the fundamental European values as soon as possible. The issues of autonomy within an EU Member State can only be addressed by defending political, civil and human rights and through dialogue and democracy, where the people involved have the final word.

They cannot and will not be resolved with totalitarian decrees of central governments.

Source: European Free Alliance homepage