April 30, 1999

Elaborating on the prospects for NATO enlargement, U.S. Ambassador to Rumania James Rosapepe stated that "Rumania should be encouraged by the fact that as long as it helps NATO, NATO will be ready to support Rumania." However, Lawrence Eagleburger, former Secretary of State under the Bush Administration, voiced widely different views by saying that he would firmly reject Rumania’s and Bulgaria’s applications for NATO membership and would cast a "maybe" vote on Slovenia. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Apr. 30, 1999]

The Legal Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe postponed its debate on establishing a committee to monitor the protection of national minorities — a motion initiated by Democratic Alliance Hungarians in Rumania Senator György Frunda. [DAHR News Watch (Bucharest) Apr. 30, 1999]

April 27, 1999

The Senate continued debate over the bill on public administration and local autonomy with opposition parties vehemently rejecting Article 90 that would provide minorities with the option to use their native-language in public administration, and for bilingual signs and public notices to be posted in communities at minimum 20 percent minority inhabited. Voting on the article was postponed to next week. [DAHR Bulletin (Bucharest), Apr. 28, 1999]

Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania President Béla Markó participated in a two-day conference held in Barcelona on the prospects for autonomy in Europe. President of Catalonia Jordi Pujol received the foreign dignitaries who visited Catalonian Parliament and met with its Spokesman Joan Teventosi Carnier. [DAHR Bulletin (Bucharest), Apr. 29, 1999]

Under the auspices of the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj/Kolozsvár, the Elek Benedek Hungarian-language education center will commence a college-level training program for teachers and nursery school teacher beginning Fall 1999. Director of the school Sándor Antal said that high-school education will continue focusing on three classes: instructors’ training, recreational organizers and school librarians. [Romániai Magyar Szó (Bucharest), Apr. 27, 1999]

The number of children in the Resita/Resicabánya nursery school in Caras-Severin/Krassó-Szörény County increased by four in the last few months to a total of 21. Many of the children in this county's nursery school, sparingly inhabited by Hungarians, are Hungarian speakers. [Romániai Magyar Szó (Bucharest), Apr. 27, 1999]

April 24, 1999

With "the History and Tradition of the Hungarian National Minority in Rumania" now included in the academic curriculum as an official subject, a corresponding textbook will be published by ethnic Hungarian history teachers, Zoltán Vince and László László, for 6^th and 7^th graders, replacing teachers' notes in use until now. The textbook will provide fresh and reliable information on the developments in the life of the ethnic Hungarian community. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Apr. 24, 1999]

April 23, 1999

The Gergely Csíki Lyceum in Arad will begin Hungarian-language classes in mathematics, computer sciences, natural sciences, philology, economics and electronics beginning Fall 1999. A new Hungarian-language course will begin to train administrative assistants while the Board of Directors of the Alma Mater Foundation has initiated a carpentry workshop to increase the technical know-how of students. Local craftsmen have been donating equipment. [Romániai Magyar Szó (Bucharest), Apr. 23, 1999]

April 22, 1999

Parliament voted by 225 to 21 with 99 abstention to approve NATO’s request for unlimited use of Rumania’s airspace in its air-strikes against Yugoslavia. In his speech, Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania President Béla Markó called attention to the fact that Rumania is not yet role model in its treatment of minorities as put forth recently by U.S. President Bill Clinton [see report of April 15] because "in reality, we face hysterical chauvinist attacks in Parliament and votes that reject basic linguistic, educational and cultural minority rights." [DAHR Bulletin (Bucharest), Apr. 22, 1999]

President of the Satu Mare/Szatmár branch of the German Democratic Forum Johann Forstenheizler pointed out that trilingual road signs — Rumanian, Hungarian and German — in communities at minimum 20 percent minority-inhabited are important to the German minority, for example in Carei/Nagykároly/Grosskarol and Tasnad/Tasnád/Tressenberg. Forstenheizler said that trilingual signs would be necessary in Satu Mare/Szatmárnémeti, seat of the County, as well because they would signify social and cultural acceptance of ethnic groups and send a positive touristic message. [Friss Újság (Satu Mare/Szatmárnémeti), Apr. 22, 1999]

April 21, 1999

In a vote of 64:57 with 70 abstentions, the Chamber of Deputies rejected, for the second time, an amendment to the civil servant bill by the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania (DAHR), that would require applicants for public administration positions in communities that are 20 percent or more minority-inhabited to speak the given minority language. Currently, there are 1,347 communities in Rumania with minority populations exceeding 20 percent of the population. DAHR members walked out on the session when the Chamber refused further debate on the amendment. Commenting on the vote to Evenimentul zilei, DAHR President Béla Markó stated that "it proves the political elite’s insincerity and hypocrisy because while it prides itself on being a role model on the treatment of minorities, it refuses to resolve a few simple issues." DAHR representative Csaba Kovács, who submitted the amendment, told his colleagues during the debate that it's rejection would be a "surprising response to President Bill Clinton's pronouncement that Rumania 'building democracy and respecting the rights of its ethnic minorities.' " In the interim, the Senate postponed a vote on provisions of native-language use in public administration and Article 51 of the Bill on Local Autonomy due to the lack of a quorum. [DAHR News Watch (Bucharest), Apr. 21, 1999; Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Apr. 21, 1999]

The conference committee established last December to determine whether to allow a native language university [see report of December 2, 1998] was convened for the first time. Deputy Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies Education Committee Ferenc Asztalos told Szabadság that only procedural matters were discussed in the meeting. The committee must prepare its report until May 31. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár], Apr. 22, 1999]

The Galaj/Szilágy County Council rejected Cehu Silvaniei/Szilágycseh local council’s proposal, voted by a two-thirds majority, to change a dozen or so of the town’s 40 street names. In this half ethnic Rumanian and Hungarian inhabited town, eight streets would be renamed to Hungarian personalities. The issue has been protracted for over a year [see report of April 2] as the County Prefect attacked the local council's resolution in court on technical grounds last year. [Romániai Magyar Szó (Bucharest), Apr. 21, 1999]

April 20, 1999

At a specially-called meeting, the government approved NATO's request to allow unrestricted use of Rumania’s air space for attacks against Yugoslavia. Concurrently, the Supreme Defense Council also approved the NATO request. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Apr. 21, 1999]

Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania President Béla Markó told Szabadság that his party unconditionally supports the use of Rumanian airspace for NATO attacks against Yugoslavia because following symbolic statements and gestures Rumania can now actively contribute to the ending of the Yugoslav war. In the interim, DAHR President voiced grave concern over the increasing gap between rhetoric and actions in the country underscored by abandoned legislation, incorrectly voted provisions and — what's worse — faulty measures. Therefore "we cannot accept U.S. President Bill Clinton's emphasis of Rumania as a role model in its treatment of ethnic minorities [see report of April 15] as opposed to Serbia’s. As far as intentions are concerned, it may be true, but problems are far greater in reality," pointed out Markó. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Apr. 21, 1999]

April 19, 1999

In a Hungarian-inhabited Transylvanian town of Turda/Torda, attempts to return illegally confiscated properties of the local Hungarian Reformed and Unitarian churches have been totally paralyzed for over years due to the inefficiency of state institutions. Hungarian Reformed minister Tibor L?rincz József told the Hungarian-language Szabadság that a cultural center, granted to the church in 1911 and still logged in the cadastral land register as its own property, was, confiscated by Communist authorities in 1946 yet the town's mayor refuses to restore rightful ownership. The issue remains unresolved despite six rounds of court hearings in an action initiated by the church. Another building of the church, also on the books as its own property, was appropriated by the Communists in 1948 and currently houses a state-owned primary school. The third confiscated building is currently empty and its parquetry and heating system have been vandalized over the years. The church would like to start up an independent Hungarian-language primary school in the building in order to serve the needs of the 10,000-strong ethnic Hungarian community. In addition, the Protestant church possessed the equivalent of 2,471 acres of land and a 300-year-old communion cup which it borrows on special occasion from the Bucharest Museum to use during services. Ferenc Farkas, Unitarian pastor, enumerated problems its church faces: failure to return a once thriving Unitarian high school whose building is now completely empty and badly in need of repair, the refusal by the Mayor’s office to restore the church’s deed to former lands, and renovation of the Unitarian church building which, in its current poor condition would require a 180 million Lei state-subsidy not forthcoming. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Apr. 19, 1999]

In an article published in the Rumanian daily, Ziua, Former Foreign Minister Adrian Severin voiced the opinion that given the Hungarian minority’s geographic position and its relations to Hungary and other countries, this community "could beneficially bridge Rumania and the western democratic tradition." Relying on the results of recent inter-ethnic opinion polls, Severin asserts that the Hungarian minority has demonstrated more loyalty and a positive attitude to state institutions than ethnic Rumanians who tend to view them negatively and are more apt to trust in the army and the church. "As long as this aberration exists, it is ethnic Rumanians and not ethnic minorities who risks the country’s development," the former foreign minister concludes. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Apr. 19, 1999]

April 17, 1999

Minister of Defense Victor Babiuc announced that Rumania refused to allow Russian aircraft, carrying humanitarian supplies to Yugoslavia, to cross its air. The minister said that aids can only be transported on land, excluding the possibility of any arm shipments. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Apr. 19, 1999]

The Alma Mater Foundation in Arad began a creative fund-raising campaign by issuing badges and postcards of the Hungarian-language secondary school in an attempt to restore its building at an estimated cost of 5 billion lei (approximately $300,000). [See report of January 1] [Romániai Magyar Szó (Bucharest), Apr. 17, 1999]

April 16, 1999

With Ploiesti court’s rejection of the Bihor/Bihar County Council’s appeal, the Királyhágómelléki Bishopric of the Hungarian Reformed Church won a lawsuit initiated nine years ago to regain its illegally confiscated headquarters. While in Decision No. 7226/1996, the Oradea/Nagyvárad Court had found for the church in 1996, the county council had appealed the verdict. The move came after the Supreme Court ruled last December for a change of venue from the Bihor/Bihar County court to Ploiesti [see report of December 3]. [Friss Újság (Satu Mare/Szatmárnémeti), Apr. 23, 1999]

April 15, 1999

In a speech on the Kosovo situation delivered to the American Society of Newspaper Editors in San Francisco, U.S. President Bill Clinton praised Rumania for "building democracy and respecting the rights of its ethnic minorities," as opposed to what Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is seeking "with his propaganda machine and his paramilitary thugs, who tell people to leave their country, their history and their land behind, or die." [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Apr. 17, 1999]

April 14, 1999

The Alliance of Hungarian Teachers in Rumania and the Transylvania Council on Textbooks will organize an exhibition on April 16 in the Hungarian-language Báthory Lyceum. Over 500 books will be exhibited, among others, new 7^th grade textbooks, and will include the participation of Hungarian and Rumanian publishing houses. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Apr. 14, 1999]

April 12, 1999

István Horváth, senior fellow at the Interethnic Research Center in Cluj/Kolozsvár, discussed the situation of minority-language electronic and printed press in an interview to the Hungarian-language daily in Slovakia, Új Szó. Horváth pointed out that in addition to the national public radio’s one-hour Hungarian-language program, several regional public radio stations, for example in Tirgu Mures/Marosvásárhely, Cluj/Kolozsvár and Timisoara/Temesvár, and other private radio enterprises broadcast Hungarian-language programs on a daily basis. Most of the 6-7 daily and the 2 weekly Hungarian-language newspapers in Rumania are commercially oriented and only one of them is funded by the state. A recent development in the marketing of a few Rumanian-language papers is to translate articles into Hungarian in an attempt to attract more readers. [Új Szó (Bratislava/Pozsony), Apr. 12]

April 10, 1999

The Education Ministry issued Decree No. 354 in order to clarify conditions surrounding final examinations in minority-language high schools and sections. At the request of institutions of higher education, the National Examination Board will recommend that people appointed to head local examination boards speak the given minority language. The decree also continues to allow for native-language examinations in Rumanian history and geography as Government Decree 36/1997, reversing discriminatory clauses in the education law, is still in effect. [Népújság (Tirgu Mures/Marosvásárhely), Apr. 12, 1999]

April 9, 1999

The Cluj/Kolozs County Prosecutor's Office has dropped charges against Sabin Gherman, author of a treatise entitled "I've Had It with Rumania," [see report of February 24] that last year decried the advance of centralization and advocated administrative autonomy for Transylvania. Gherman was charged with treason and endangering Rumania’s national security by three opposition parties: the Greater Rumania Party, the Rumanian National Unity Party and the Rumanian Social Democracy Party. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Apr. 9, 1999]

Former Rumanian Prime Minister and Christian Democratic National Peasant Party Vice President Victor Ciorbea is likely to quit the party. According to Remus Opris of the Peasant Party, Ciorbea plans to form a party of Christian democratic orientation. [Népújság (Tirgu Mures/Marosvásárhely), Apr. 10, 1999]

April 7, 1999

While not commenting directly on the quote in the Rumanian-language daily, Recurs, whereby special units are ready to respond to supposed ethnic Hungarians separatist inclinations, Chief Commander of Military Police General Anghel Andreescu, issued a statement in response to protests by the Mures/Maros County Operative Council of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania [see report of April 5]. Andreescu sought to clarify his position by stating that currently eight mobile troops are stationed around the country, for example at the Cluj/Kolozsvár, Tirgu Mures/Marosvásárhely and Brassov/Brassó military police depots, to generally intervene in the case of disturbances, guarantee public safety and restore constitutional order if necessary. The general voiced his institution’s political neutrality vis-a-vis parties and organizations. [Népújság (Tirgu Mures/Marosvásárhely), Apr. 8, 1999]

April 6, 1999

In an interview to the Rumanian daily, Monitorul de Iasi, President Emil Constantinescu denounced opinions that drew parallels between the situation of minorities in Rumania and Yugoslavia, labeling them "anti-Western policies." [DAHR News Watch (Bucharest), Apr. 6, 1999]

Repeated talks were inconclusive to resolve disputes over the composition of Board of Health Insurance Fund in Mures/Maros County even with Prefect Dorin Florea's attendance. The conflict derives from the fact that last December a nine-member board was appointed without duly considering the county’s ethnic composition — 49% ethnic Rumanian, 44% ethnic Hungarian, 3% ethnic German — and only one ethnic Hungarian representative was named. While a new list containing three ethnic Hungarian candidates was compiled in an effort to correct the disproportionate representation, former chairman of the board and current chairman of the Alliance of the Fratia Trade Union Stefan Vas firmly objected to its content. [Népújság (Tirgu Mures/Marosvásárhely) Apr. 7, 1999]

April 5, 1999

The Rumanian daily, Adevarul, published Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic’s recent letter to his Rumanian counterpart Andrei Plesu expecting that Rumania "condemn NATO aggression led by the U.S. government and demand the immediate cessation of air strikes." The letter appealed to Plesu to suspend the decision to "allow Rumanian airspace for NATO aggression against Yugoslavia." While foreign ministry officials confirmed the existence of the letter, they rejected the assumption that Rumania would have allowed use of its airspace for NATO strikes against Yugoslavia. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Apr. 7, 1999]

The Mures/Maros County Operative Council of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania (DAHR) protested Chief Commander of Military Police General Anghel Andrescu’s statement made during a March 5-6 visit to Tirgu Mures/Marosvásárhely, a 50 percent Hungarian-inhabited city in Transylvania. The Rumanian-language newspaper, Recurs, quoted the commander as saying that "regional military police forces will create specially-trained and equipped mobile troops in response to pronouncements by some radical DAHR leaders espousing separatism." DAHR stated that as part of the Rumanian government coalition, it finds that, in the shadow of Kosovo’s tragedy, unsubstantiated allegations of separatism dangerously taint majority-minority relations as well as jeopardize Hungarian-Rumanian bilateral relations. "Therefore, we strongly disapprove of intimidation against the ethnic Hungarian community and insist that all further actions calling for special military police troops be suspended," holds DAHR’s statement. [Népújság (Tirgu Mures/Marosvásárhely), Apr. 7, 1999; Romániai Magyar Szó (Bucharest), Apr. 8, 1999]]

April 2, 1999

Romania libera reported that the Council of Europe established an Advisory Committee, consisting of 18 independent experts, to begin the monitoring the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Its task will be to examine the first state reports submitted by the signatories, among them Rumania. Countries having submitted their reports include Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Liechtenstein and San Marino. [DAHR News Watch (Bucharest), Apr. 2, 1999]

The local council of Cehu Silvaniei/Szilágycseh in Galaj/Szilágy County voted by a two-thirds majority to change a dozen or so of the town’s 40 street names. In this half ethnic Rumanian and Hungarian inhabited town, eight streets were renamed to Hungarian personalities, namely, Arany János, Ady Endre, Bartók Béla, Gyulaffy László, Kossuth Lajos, Petôfi Sándor, Kálvin János and Drágffy János, an ethnic Rumanian local hero who fought against the Ottoman invasion in the 16th century and was granted Hungarian nobility. [Romániai Magyar Szó (Bucharest), Apr. 1, 1999]