December 20, 1999

The Constitutional Court rejected a petition filed by the extremist Rumanian National Unity Party and the Greater Rumania Party against the Law on Civil Servants that went into effect on December 8. [See report of December 8] The nationalists opposed provisions in the law that allow for limited use of minority languages in those localities that are at minimum 20 percent minority inhabited. Civil servants directly dealing with the public will now need to either know the given minority language, or provide an interpreter. The Court rejected the motion on technical grounds — it was submitted after the law was promulgated. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Dec. 21, 1999]

December 17, 1999

After the dismissal of Rumanian Prime Minister Radu Vasile on December 14, President Emil Constantinescu appointed Mugur Isarescu, President of the Rumanian National Bank since 1990, to succeed Vasile. In addition to a politically impartial premier, each party in the governing coalition will have a Deputy Prime Minister. The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania delegated Gábor Hajdú, Minister of Public Health, for the post. [DAHR News Watch (Bucharest), Dec. 17, 1999]

December 15, 1999

The Chamber of Deputies Committee on Labor and Social Protection unanimously approved the motion initiated by Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania to expand the scope of compensation set forth in Government Decree No. 105/1999 [see report of November 12]. If adopted by Parliament, all persons who suffered injustices on account of their nationality or religion until March 6, 1945 will be eligible for compensation, including ethnic Hungarians who were interned in the Feldioara/Földvár and Tirgu-Jiu concentration camps, as well as in Aita Seaca/Szárazajta (Covasna/Kovaszna County). [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Dec. 17, 1999]

December 10, 1999

Newly appointed Cluj/Kolozsvár County Prefect Vasile Salcudeanu filed a petition with the administrative Court to nullify the city council October 28 decision to raise a statue to war criminal Marshall Antonescu. The move came after former interim Prefect Péter Buchwald repeatedly warned the city to withdraw its motion [see report of November 9]. Salcudeanu pointed out that in a developing democracy, city councils should focus more on solving real-life problems faced by its inhabitants. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Dec. 11, 1999]

December 9, 1999

The conference committee of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies approved the Law on Restitution of Illegally Confiscated Agricultural and Forestland [see report of November 9]. The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania supported the bill, which President Béla Markó earlier called the most important legislative achievement of the past three years following adoption of amendments to the Law on Education in July. [DAHR Bulletin (Bucharest), Dec. 10, 1999]

December 8, 1999

The Law on Civil Servants went into affect today prompting the extremist Rumanian National Unity and Greater Rumania parties to file a petition with the Constitutional Court. The nationalists are opposed to provisions in the law that allow for limited use of minority languages in those localities that are at minimum 20 percent minority inhabited. Civil servants directly dealing with the public will now need to either know the given minority language or provide a translator. The Court will hear the case on December 20. [DAHR News Watch (Bucharest), Dec. 10, 1999]

December 7, 1999

The Board of Directors of the Rumanian National Television cancelled the 30-minute Hungarian-language program of the Cluj/Kolozsvár Regional Studio that aired on Channel Two every Friday. The move comes following an October 26 meeting between Minister for Minority Affairs Péter Eckstein Kovács and the Rumanian National Television (RTV) leadership at which the chairman of RTV announced plans to move minority-language programs to Channel 1 and expand the role of regional studios. Instead, the weekly broadcast time of the program has been reduced from 85 minutes to 55. In addition, the editorial staff of the program continues to face impending downsizing [see the report of August 18]. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Dec. 7, 1999]

December 2, 1999

Leaders of ethnic Hungarian churches submitted another petition to Prime Minister Radu Vasile requesting the cabinet to withdraw the Bill on Religious Affairs, currently in the Human Rights Committee of the Chamber of Deputies [see report of September 9]. In their letter, the leaders pointed out that the bill hinders church autonomy and fails to provide the necessary legal basis for reconstructing the once wide network of denominational schools abolished under the Communist regime. Moreover, the bill fails to address restitution of illegally confiscated church properties during communism. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Dec. 3, 1999]

December 1, 1999

OCSE High Commissioner for National Minorities Max van der Stoel announced that he will ask the European Commission to provide significant financial assistance to develop the multicultural character of the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj/Kolozsvár. Following a Bucharest meeting with Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Rumania President Béla Markó, Van der Stoel underscored that a multicultural character includes establishing minority-language sections, departments and divisions. Markó pointed out that there are still two conditions that need to be met in order to accurately label the university a multicultural one (1) expanding the scope of Hungarian-language education, especially at the Law and Economics Departments, and (2) creating an ethnic Hungarian division that encompasses all the Hungarian language sections. Markó also stressed the importance of financial support from the European Union to realize these goals in the upcoming year. [Szabadság (Cluj/Kolozsvár), Dec. 2, 1999]