Over the objections of Rumanian deputies, the Cultural Committee of the Council of Europe adopted a report on the protection of Csángó minority culture. The Csángós are a culturally distinct, centuries-old ethnic Hungarian community numbering about 250,000, living in the northeastern part of Rumania. Finnish committee member Tytti Isohookana-Asunmaa, who visited the Csángó-inhabited region last year, submitted the draft report. The report states that the Csángó dialect is an ancient form of Hungarian and therefore embodies a unique cultural tradition since only a few ethnic groups in Europe have been able to retain their authentic linguistic and cultural heritage. The report calls on Rumania to support Hungarian-language education for Csángó children if requested by parents. Furthermore, it recommends that native-language religious worship, a key ingredient of their cultural identity, be held for the Roman Catholic Csángós who live in a predominantly Orthodox environment. Finally, in addition to advocating financial support for, and official recognition of Csángó organizations, the report also recommends that “Csángó” be offered as an option for ethnicity on the next census questionnaire. Hungarian member of the Committee, Gábor Nagy, told the Hungarian Daily Telegraph that by adopting the report the way has been paved for the Parliamentary Assembly's Standing Committee to address the issue and finalize the report at its May meeting. [Hungarian Daily Telegraph (Budapest) April 26, 2001]

Zsolt Szilágy and Zoltán Kovács, two Bihar/Bihor County Deputies from the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania (DAHR), voiced concern to Serban Mihailescu, Minister in Charge of the Government's General Secretariat, about obstacles placed by the Mayor's Office in Oradea/Nagyvárad which prevent the Hungarian historic churches from reoccupying properties confiscated from them under communism. Government Order 2000/1334 mandated the return of, among others, two properties—the Endre Ady High School and a former Girl's Lyceum—to the Hungarian Roman Catholic and Reformed Churches. Yet, the Mayor's Office, headed by Petru Philip, continues to block restitution even though the cabinet decided on March 23 that it will not remove the two buildings from the list of properties waiting to be returned. Szilágyi told the Bihari Napló that he expects the Minister to respond both orally and in writing within two weeks. [Bihari Napló (Oradea/Nagyvárad), April 25, 2001]

The National Council for the Evaluation of Academic Accreditation (CNEAA) wants to tie its permission for accrediting the Hungarian private university to conditions not included in the relevant law, as it became clear in the Council chairman’s letter to the Sapientia Foundation, responsible for establishing the university. Sapientia President Sándor Tonk told the Hungarian Daily Telegraph that in his letter, Chairman Ion Mihailescu demanded that every campus of the private university have at least one division in which all subjects are taught in Rumanian. However, the Law on Accreditation contains no such requirement. [Article 5 Paragraph 4 of the Law mentions only that universities formed as a result of a split or merger among existing institutions must include at least one department taught in Rumanian. This does not apply to the newly created, private Hungarian university.] The Council has been postponing its decision on the private Hungarian university since early February and did not even place the issue on the agenda of its last meeting [see report of April 9]. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Budapest, April 23, 2001, MTI (Budapest), April 23, 2001].

Despite an earlier promise to make a decision on granting permission to the private Hungarian university, the National Council for the Evaluation of Academic Accreditation (CNEAA) failed to set the issue on its agenda today. Aurel Ghimpu, Spokesman for the Committee, refused to comment on why the issue was not discussed. The Sapientia Foundation—responsible for establishing the private university—has already filed eleven requests to set up academic departments in four Transylvanian cities. Earlier CNEAA demanded that Sapientia also submit the future university's finalized academic structure—a step not required by other private universities. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), April 10, 2001]