January 27, 2000

Unable to find a solution to end a four-day old nationwide teachers’ strike, Education Minister Andrei Marga handed in his resignation today. Budgetary constraints have prevented the ministry from satisfying teachers’ demand for wage increases, and the Minister has not received his coalition’s support to complete educational reforms. Marga’s decision coincided with a letter from the Parliament's education committee containing accusations by three opposition party members. The deputies alleged that Marga failed (1) to apply the provisions of the Law on Education to educational reform projects initiated by the Ministry, and (2) to respect the salary contracts of those working in education. [Romániai Magyar Szó (Bucharest), Jan. 28, 2000]

The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania decided to open a local information office in Cluj/Kolozsvár for the public to obtain guidelines on utilizing the recently adopted Law on the Restitution of Illegally Confiscated Agricultural and Forestlands. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Jan. 28, 2000]

January 26, 2000

President of the Reghin/Szászrégen Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania Endre Márk said that even though Government Decree 22/1997 removed the legal obstacles preventing the placement of multi-lingual place name signs, the necessary political will to do so is still lacking. Reghin is a 30 percent Hungarian and 10 percent German inhabited town in Mures/Maros County. The government decree allows place name signs to be posted in communities where a minority comprises at least 20 percent of the total population. [Népújság (Tirgu-Mures/Marosvásárhely), Jan. 26, 2000]

The Cluj/Kolozs County Administrative Court has postponed the suspension of ultra-nationalist mayor Gheorghe Funar until February 15 when it will hear the case. Cluj/Kolozs County Prefect, Vasile Salcudeanu, decided to suspend the mayor of Cluj/Kolozsvár following accusations of abuse of authority [see report of January 24]. Following the court’s decision, Funar declared that should it find him innocent, he will file a suit against the Prefect for 1 billion Lei in damages. He would then, in turn, use to proceeds towards the election campaign of the extremist Greater Rumania Party. Ethnic Hungarian Deputy Prefect Péter Buchwald called the decision hasty and expressed doubts regarding the court’s impartiality. Meanwhile, Prefect Salcudeanu informed the media that he is going to file a second complaint against the mayor since Funar continued to act as mayor during his suspension. [DAHR News Watch (Bucharest), Jan. 27, 2000; Napi Magyarország (Budapest), Jan. 28, 2000]

January 25, 2000

At a press conference following the Washington meeting of Rumanian Foreign Minister Petre Roman and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, State Department spokesman James Rubin said that the partners agreed, among others, on the following: (1) Rumania should accelerate its military and economic reforms to bring Rumania closer into the NATO family, and (2) the South-East European countries should strongly promote the implementation and maintenance of the Balkan Stability Pact and support the democratization of Serbia. According to Reuters, during his January 25-28 visit to the U.S., Roman is also scheduled to meet with White House National Security Advisor Samuel Berger, members of Congress involved in foreign policy and academic, business and media leaders. [DAHR News Watch (Bucharest), Jan. 27, 2000]

January 24, 2000

Minister for Public Administration Vlad Rosca approved the Cluj/Kolozs County Prefect’s decision to suspend ultra-nationalist Cluj/Kolozsvár mayor, Gheorghe Funar, from office following accusations of abuse of authority. The mayor has been in dispute with a commercial company named Alimentara since 1997 after he withdrew, without explanation, the company's permit to build a supermarket. The mayor has the right to lodge an appeal against the judgment within ten days. [Népújság (Tirgu-Mures/Marosvásárhely), Jan. 26, 2000]

The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania published a bilingual information guide on utilizing the recently passed Law on Restitution of Illegally Confiscated Agricultural and Forestland. The nationalist-oriented Rumanian-language daily Adevarul praised the move and expressed regret that the Democratic Christian Peasant Party had failed to issue such a publication first. [DAHR News Watch (Bucharest), Jan. 24, 2000]

January 18, 2000

Coming on the heels of the change in the Rumanian leadership, Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania (DAHR) President Béla Markó announced that the Alliance will focus increasingly on economic issues. The need for the Hungarian community, in particular, to achieve economic progress is imperative as its lack is a key factor in the increased emigration of ethnic Hungarian youth to neighboring Hungary. [DAHR News Watch (Bucharest), Jan. 18, 2000]

During the newly appointed foreign minister’s confirmation process, Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania Deputy Zsolt Szilágyi took issue with Petre Roman’s pronouncement that the situation of minorities in Rumania has been solved in an exemplary manner. Szilágyi pointed out the lack of ethnic Hungarian experts, for example, in the Finance and Foreign Affairs Ministries. Indeed, there should be a special department within the Foreign Affairs Ministry devoted to disseminating accurate information on minorities in Rumania, emphasized Szilágyi. [DAHR News Watch (Bucharest), Jan. 18, 2000]

January 17, 2000

Following the visit of Max van der Stoel, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities [see report of December 1, 1999] Minister of Education Andrei Marga affirmed the need to establish comprehensive Hungarian, German and Rumanian language education at the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj/Kolozsvár in order to strengthen the university’s multicultural character. He also added that discussion of this issue would continue in March with representatives of the EU and OSCE. While the President of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania, Béla Markó welcomed the Education Minister's aim to expand Hungarian-language education at the university, he reminded that legislation to establish the fully independent Hungarian and German Language state university, the Pet?fi-Schiller, has yet to be drafted. [Népújság (Tirgu-Mures/Marosvásárhely), Jan. 18, 2000]

The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania (DAHR) celebrated its 10^th anniversary with a cultural event in Tirgu-Mures/Marosvásárhely. DAHR President Béla Markó praised the organization's ability to maintain its unity under many difficult circumstances. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Jan. 17, 2000]

January 13, 2000

Members of the board of directors of the foundation that will prepare the groundwork for establishing the Partium Christian University were announced. The decision to establish such an organization was reached in September 1999. Ethnic Hungarian church leaders, and representatives of the Hungarian Government Office for Hungarian Minorities Abroad, announced the name of the organization as Sapientia (Knowledge). The Hungarian government has set aside 2 billion HUF ($7.7 million) to support the future institution. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Jan. 14, 2000]

January 11, 2000

Ferenc Pécsi, secretary of the working group established to track implementation of Law No. 113 on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises [see report of July 21, 1999] reported on their first project. So far, the group has gathered information from financial offices, custom agencies, the National Asset Agency as well as entrepreneurs from each county on how the law has benefited them so far. Their next project will be a countrywide survey on the development needs of entrepreneurs, to be followed by a plan to seek financial support from next year's budget. In addition, he deemed the tax cut recently approved by the government for this sector as encouraging. [Romániai Magyar Szó (Bucharest), Jan. 11, 2000]

A vocal extremist of the Rumanian National Unity Party (PUNR), Petre Turlea, accused the Minister for Minority Affairs, Péter Eckstein Kovács, of being a spy for the Hungarian government. Ethnic German Representative Wolfgang Witschtock rejected the accusations leveled during a session of the Committee on Human Rights and Minorities Rights, saying that Eckstein represents each minority community impartially and is unbiased regarding Hungarian issues. Turlea took issue with the fact that on one occasion the Minister had traveled twice in one week to neighboring Hungary. [DAHR News Watch (Bucharest), Jan. 11, 2000]

January 10, 2000

In an interview with the Hungarian-language daily Romániai Magyar Szó, President of the Bolyai Association, Ferenc Wanek said that the organization supports the establishment of a public Hungarian-language university, to be headquartered in Cluj/Kolozsvár, rather than setting up a private one with a religious background. He pointed out that the 2 billion HUF ($7.7 million) offered by the Hungarian government for such a purpose is far from enough to create and maintain a well-equipped private university. The taxes paid by nearly 2 million ethnic Hungarians in Rumania do, however, warrant a state-funded university for the community, emphasized Wanek. [Romániai Magyar Szó (Bucharest), Jan. 10, 2000]

President Emil Constantinescu signed the Law on Restitution of Illegally Confiscated Agricultural and Forest Lands [see report of November 9 and December 9, 1999]. One progressive provision of the law is that it includes Rumanian citizens without permanent residence in the country, as well as churches, among the beneficiaries. In the case of churches, restitution can occur as follows: up to 100 hectares for bishoprics, 50 hectares for monasteries and religious orders, 10 hectares for parishes. Ethnic Hungarian Representative Dezsõ Garda assessed the law as very important, in particular for the Székely Region where 220,500 hectares of forestland stand to be returned in Covasna/Kovászna and Harghita/Hargita Counties alone. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Jan. 12, 2000]

January 8, 2000

In an interview about upcoming elections at the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj/Kolozsvár, acting ethnic Hungarian Rector Pál Szilágyi said that the school's by-laws provide for proportional representation of ethnic Hungarian professors at the top level in each faculty. There will be at least one ethnic Hungarian deputy dean at each faculty where the dean is ethnic Rumanian. As regards the decision-making body of the University — the Senate — there will be at least one ethnic Hungarian from each faculty, including the affiliated pedagogical faculties in Satu-Mare/Szatmárnémeti, Aiud/Nagyenyed, Odorheiu Secuiesc/Székelyudvarhely and Tirgu Secuiesc/Kézdivásárhely. Szilágyi added that the probability of having an ethnic Hungarian rector is unlikely, but the election of an ethnic Hungarian deputy rector is more than possible. The Hungarian community's main aspiration at the institution continues to be establishing the following five Hungarian-language independent faculties: mathematics and natural sciences; humanities; political sciences, law and economics, Protestant theology; and Catholic theology. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Jan. 8, 2000]

January 7, 2000

According to the registries of ethnic Hungarian churches in Cluj/Kolozsvár, the ethnic Hungarian population of the city is rapidly declining. Roman Catholic churches recorded 49 baptisms but 151 funerals, while two of the three Unitarian church districts also experienced a decline: 16 baptisms as opposed to 58 funerals. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Jan. 7, 2000]

January 6, 2000

The ultra-nationalist mayor of Cluj/Kolozsvár Gheorghe Funar brought criminal charges against Béla Markó, President of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania, for alleged defamation. The accusation goes back to the scandal started by Funar who had a plaque placed on the property of the Hungarian Consulate in the city bearing the inscription "This is the locus of Hungarian espionage." [See report of September 17, 1999] The Hungarian diplomatic mission did not press charges at the time. Markó however referred to Funar's move as one blinded by extreme nationalism in its incitement to hatred of a neighboring country [Hungary]. The Cluj local court has summoned Markó for January 25. [Népújság (Tirgu-Mures/Marosvásárhely), Jan. 6, 2000]

January 5, 2000

Newly appointed Prime Minister Mugur Isarescu named ethnic Hungarian Gyula Bara advisor to the cabinet on labor and social insurance matters. Bara will be in charge of issues related to the labor market, unemployment, pensions and health insurance. [DAHR Bulletin (Bucharest), Jan. 10, 2000]

January 4, 2000

Hungarian-language schools will also be among the 800 selected to benefit from a renovation project initiated jointly by the World Bank and the Rumanian government, said József Kötõ, Education State Secretary, at a press conference. Kötõ also noted that the 130 million dollars approved for the project from the state budget will considerably help in accelerating the pace of educational reform as well. The Ady Endre Lyceum in Bucharest, the Aprily Lajos Lyceum in Brasov/Brassó and the Benedek Elek Pedagogical High School in Odorheiu Secuiesc/Székehelyudvarhely are among the institutions instructing in Hungarian language that will benefit from the project. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Jan. 4, 2000]