It is well known, that the Romanian authorities intend to use the administrative reorganization of the country as a pretext to include Szeklerland in a large region where the Szekler people will not be able to make use even of the linguistic rights they have these days. Whoever dares to protest in public against these plans is considered an enemy of the country and has to face various problems, beginning with the non-application of favorable laws and ending with systematic harassment of various state authorities.

Motto: „May God give us light,
not funerals, but life.”

Due to the fact that the government of Romania has not given up on its attempt to try and incorporate Szeklerland into a larger-region with Romanian majority,

Regarding the growing diplomatic scandal that commenced after an interview of the journal România Liberă with Hungary’s Ambassador to Romania, Zákonyi Botond, we find it important to state the following:

European Free Alliance newsletter:

Romanian Ombudsman: protecting the state and not the rights of citizens

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe held its summer session in June. On the 23rd, the the Secretary General of the Council answered the questions of the members of the Assembly. Below a question and an answer:

Two days ago the Romanian Parliament adopted a law about adopting and using the flags of the municipalities and counties. Although Romania ratified the European Charter of Local Self-Government, this law stipulates that these flags should be adopted by the Government, establishes a series of restrictions in using them and severe penalties (up to 2300 euros) for those who do not comply with its provisions. And what is really shocking: it also stipulates, that if one uses another flag than those adopted by the government (without making it clear where, when and in what circumstances), than besides that it will be fined, that flag will be confiscated.

It is a strong political dogma in Romania that the country solved in an exemplary way the protection of national minorities. But if one takes a closer look to the real situation will observe that the reality is totally different. Just some recent examples:

An alarming case

The Democratic Alliance of the Hungarians in Romania held its congress last week. For this occasion a public message of President Klaus Iohannis appeared on the official homepage of the Romanian presidency addressing the participants of the congress. There was great satisfaction among the local Hungarian media regarding this message, as it happened for the first time that a Romanian political leader admitted, that there is much to do regarding the respecting of the rights of national minorities in Romania. More importantly, – Iohannis added that the authorities must also take into consideration the culture and identity of the people living in specific areas of the country, when creating administrative regions.

In the document on public order and public safety for the 2015-2020 period, recently released for public discussion, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is interpreting its own responsibilities in a way that is unworthy for a constitutional state. The twenty-page long text adopted by the government is calling a legitimate community demand, the Szekler autonomy aspiration, a “criminal phenomenon” that "poses a constant threat to the citizens' welfare and safety”. According to the document, the demand for territorial autonomy is a “racist, xenophobic and extremist manifestation”. To make things worse, according to the superficial wording, racism and xenophobia can only be considered a source of threat if it is aimed at achieving a region’s autonomy. In other words, racism and xenophobia is permissible, according to the Romanian government, as long as its aim is a national minority’s violent assimilation, expulsion or extermination or any other criminal offense against a person or group.

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.