November 30, 1999

At a press conference of the newly founded Banat-Transylvanian League Party, President Sabin Gherman announced that their main policy is promotion of the administrative and fiscal autonomy of seven Rumanian regions. Since 1998, Gherman has been repeatedly harassed by extremist Rumanian politicians for his views on decentralization. According to the president, each region should have a regional council in charge of executive functions, and a regional chamber, responsible for legislation. He also pointed out that his party strongly encourages respect for minority rights and the official use of minority languages where there is a demand for this. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Dec. 1, 1999]

November 24, 1999

Legislation on restitution of illegally confiscated minority and church properties is under preparation by the government, reported Attila Markó, Legislative Director of the Office for the Protection of National Minorities. Markó announced that his office has asked the Cluj/Kolozsvár County Prefect to compile documentation on the property rights of 39 assets, which belonged to national minority communities before they were illegally appropriated by Communist authorities. Members of national minority communities and churches have been involved in the fact finding, indicating their priorities. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Nov. 24, 1999]

The leadership of the Gheorghe Sincai Lyceum in Cluj/Kolozsvár is stymieing compliance with the governmental decree that formally returned title of the building it is housed in to the rightful owner, the Hungarian Reformed Church. Instructed by the Cluj/Kolozs County school board to vacate eight of 84 classroom by September 15, the school filed a petition with the mayor’s office instead. The lyceum’s obstruction comes despite a symbolic rent and a generous phase-out plan proposed by the Hungarian Reformed Church. Complete restitution would be achieved by first, immediate occupation of eight classrooms in one section of the two-winged building. Then, the Church would occupy one wing by August 15, 2000, and lastly, the second wing would be occupied within a 5-10 year period during which time the school board could build a new facility. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Nov. 24, 1999]

November 23, 1999

In a letter to Cluj/ Kolozsvár Mayor Gheorghe Funar, the mayor of Cologne, Harry Blumm, protested the city council’s decision to raise a statue of Marshall Antonescu [see report of October 29]. Among his reasons, Blumm cited the fact that 120,000 Jews and 25,000 Roma died under the dictatorship of Antonescu. The mayor of Cologne also withdrew his invitation for Funar to visit the German city. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Nov. 23, 1999]

November 12, 1999

The Chamber of Deputies adopted an initiative by the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania (DAHR) to expand the scope of compensation set forth in Government Decree 105 [see report of September 19]. Now, all persons who suffered injustices on account of their nationality or religion until March 6, 1945 will be eligible for compensation. DAHR Deputy Károly Kerekes reported that instead of amending Law No. 118 on the restitution of illegally confiscated properties, Government Decree 105, will now become a separate legal act that includes restitution to all those ethnic Hungarians who were interned in the Feldioara/Földvár and Tirgu-Jiu concentration camps, as well as in Aita Seaca/Szárazajta (Covasna/Kovaszna County). [Népújság (Tirgu Mures/Marosvásárhely), Nov. 12, 1999]

At a press conference of the Cluj/Kolozs County branch of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania, Member of Parliament, Sándor Kónya-Hamar, reported on a bill drafted by the Ministry of Interior that contains provisions restricting freedom of expression and association. Articles 9 and 17 of the bill state that in order to avoid ethnic conflicts ,the national symbols and flags of nations other than Rumania cannot be displayed at public events. The singing of other national anthems would similarly be prohibited. Adoption of such legislation would impact first and foremost on the many national minority communities in the country. As drafted, violation of the law would result in imprisonment. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Nov. 13, 1999]

November 11, 1999

There will be no Hungarian-language textbooks at the freshman high school level for ethnic Hungarian students at the beginning of the next school year — concluded a conference organized by the Transylvanian Textbook Council. Mircea Moldovean, editor-in-chief of the All Publishing House, pointed out that the translation of Rumanian textbooks into Hungarian has been put on hold until they receive larger orders. Hungarian-language teachers, however, articulated the following reasons for their hesitation such as (1) poor quality of the translation, (2) failure to receive textbooks ordered in the past, and (3) the exorbitant cost of textbooks making them unaffordable for parents. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Nov. 12, 1999]

The plaque honoring György Klapka — a colonel during the 1848 Hungarian revolution — was damaged in Timisoara/Temesvár, reported Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania Parliamentary Deputy Ferenc Bárányi. The Klapka Memorial House, where the plaque hangs, is also headquarters to the local branch of the extremist Rumanian National Unity Party. Decreasing living standards may be a factor in the rise of such acts of extremist nationalism, indicated Bárányi. [Romániai Magyar Szó (Bucharest), Nov. 13, 1999]

November 9, 1999

In a vote of 89:12 with 27 abstentions, the Senate approved the bill on the restitution of illegally confiscated agricultural and forestland. Although the bill has not yet gone through the conference committee, Democratic Alliance of Rumania President Béla Markó marked the event as the most significant legislative one in the past three years following the adoption of amendments to the Law on Education in July. He pointed out that implementation of the law would restore the properties of more than 90 percent of the affected parties. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Nov. 10, 1999]

Provisional Prefect of Cluj/Kolozs County, Péter Buchwald, called upon the Cluj/Kolozsvár city council to withdraw its October 28 resolution to raise a statue of war criminal Marshall Antonescu. [see report of October 29] Buchwald warned the council that should it not comply, he will file a lawsuit in administrative court. Buchwald pointed out that the council brought its decision without allocating money from the local budget and by ignoring the relevant opinion of experts, namely, the city development committee and the committee for the protection of historical monuments. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Nov. 11, 1999]

November 5, 1999

Minister for Minority Affairs Péter Eckstein-Kovács issued a statement protesting the Cluj/Kolozsvár city council’s resolution to erect a statute of Marshall Antonescu, a convicted war criminal. Thousands of Jews and Roma were either brutally killed or deported to concentration camps between 1941 and 1944 under Antonescu's dictatorship [see report of October 29]. Eckstein warned that he will take steps to have the resolution nullified should the city council not reconsider its position. [DAHR News Watch (Bucharest), Nov. 5, 1999]

The European Court of Human Rights found against Rumania in the so-called Brumarescu case, a lawsuit dealing with the "right to property." The news was relayed by Minister of Justice Valeriu Stoica who indicated that unless the Rumanian Parliament quickly adopts a law on property rights, the Strasbourg court will find similarly in the approximately 70 other pending cases. The decision confirmed that Rumania failed to fulfill three articles of the European Convention on Human Rights namely, access to justice, the right to a fair trial and the right to property. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Nov. 5, 1999 and DAHR News Watch (Bucharest), Nov. 5, 1999]

Unknown vandals in the Satu Mare/Szatmarnémeti Jewish cemetery broke 25 gravestones into pieces. The cemetery’s Holocaust memorial was also damaged, reported Miklós Steinberg, leader of the city’s religious community. A police investigation is underway. [Romániai Magyar Szó (Bucharest), Nov. 8, 1999]