24th Weekly Media Review of Hungarian Communities Abroad Heti nemzetpolitikai összefoglaló (24.hét)

1. Weekly Media Review
of Hungarian
Communities Abroad
24/2011

2. Transylvania - Erdély
Act on National Minorities
Despite the positive change in the Education Law concerning the rights of minorities the
adoption of a comprehensive minority act is indispensable. The UN’s Anti-discrimination
Committee has requested repeatedly that Romania passes an extensive minority law, the
last time in 2010. The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ) has
already submitted its minority draft law in 2005; nevertheless it is still subject of debate
in the parliamentary committee. The draft act on national minorities was first elaborated
by the RMDSZ under the Tăriceanu Government in 2005. It was aborted by the Senate
and was also blocked by the Representative House in 2007. The ruling Democrat Liberal
Party (PDL) is currently under pressure from the RMDSZ to have the law passed by the
end of the month, threatening to leave the coalition if this does not happen. Kelemen said
PDL and RMDSZ had agreed, at the beginning of the year, that the national minorities’
law would be adopted before the end of the spring parliamentary season. RMDSZ leader
noted that he would demand the government to take responsibility for the law in
Parliament if the Chamber of Deputies’ human rights committee does not file a report on
the project within a week. According to the Romanian constitution, the government may
assume responsibility before the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, in joint sitting,
upon a bill without having a vote in Parliament. The constitution also stipulates that the
government shall be dismissed if a motion of censure, tabled within three days of the
date of presenting the bill, has been passed. If the government has not been dismissed,
the bill shall be deemed as adopted. Social Democratic Party (PSD) leader Victor Ponta
said the opposition would surely file a no-confidence vote if the government demanded
parliament’s confidence over the national minorities’ status law.
Administrative re-organization of Romania
The most heated debate within the Romanian legislation is now obviously the proposed
act on territorial reorganization. The planned changes are criticized not just by the
opposition but by ruling coalition members as well. The final decision on this project was
scheduled to be taken till the 10th June when it could have turned out whether the prime
minister would opt for taking responsibility for the draft. The fate of the draft is still
pending. President Traian Băsescu’s proposed re-organization of the national territory
into a total of eight development regions headed by a prefect and a county council does
not coincide with either RMDSZ’s request, which advocates 16 regions, or PDL’s idea. For
the time being the Democrat-Liberals have not mentioned the number of counties that
will be left after the reorganization, stating that doing so “would get ahead of the process
of negotiations”. However their unofficial option is to create eight or maximum twelve
large regions. The subject was discussed between the president, the prime minister Emil
Boc and a few other important heads of the ruling party, during a meeting almost two
2

3. weeks ago. Băsescu instructed the government to look into the re-organization of the
country by replacing the 41 current counties with eight large counties or seven counties
Transylvania - Erdély
plus the city of Bucharest, arguing that the current system which has been in place since
1968 generates inefficiency in the management of EU funds and corruption. The
intention of the ruling party, that is to finalize the draft law as soon as possible, has
caused a bit of discontent within the party. If the law is adopted in the version supported
by Traian Băsescu and PDL, Romania would have eight regions and the current county
councils and prefectures would disappear. That being said, it is quite easy to understand
the objection of both the PDL MPs and party county organizations who wouldn’t like to
lose the existing positions in the counties, filled either by election or by appointment.
Although, the bone of contention is the fate of the counties Maros/Mures,
Hargita/Harghita and Kovászna/Covasna, by RMDSZ wanting them to merge into a single
region. Hunor Kelemen RMDSZ president warned that the administrative reorganization
with eight regions was far-fetched, arguing that a person would have to walk 300-400
kilometers to solve a problem. Kelemen indicated that no official discussion has taken
place yet inside the coalition, adding that the Alliance has its own bill on this subject,
already submitted to the parliament in 2008, which advances 15-16 development
regions. According to RMDSZ, the current regional division (Fehér-Maros-Hargita-
Kovászna-Brassó-Szeben counties) is very disadvantageous for the three counties in
Szeklerland. A Maros-Hargita-Kovászna development region would prove to be much
more homogenous. Szeklerland may be conceived of a region that is not only
geographically homogenous but also historically and culturally. It is unfavourable from
development aspects as well to unite Szekler counties with economically more developed
areas inhabited mostly by Romanians into one region, since developed areas have a
better chance to attain financial sources than backward ones. The proposal of PDL and of
the president is therefore unacceptable for the Alliance. RMDSZ argues that a regional
reform is indispensable, but not by splitting counties with a Hungarian majority. The
Social-Democrats (PSD) are by far the staunchest opponents of the initiative, claiming it
is an attempt to confuse the electorate before the local elections scheduled in 2012.
According to an analysis published by a Bucharest-based daily newspaper called Gandul,
lowering the number of county councils or regional councils to eight would diminish
PSD’s willingness to make room for the National Liberal Party (PNL) candidates, given
that competition will be much higher. Vice-president of the Conservative Party Bogdan
Diaconu stated in an announcement that should Maros, Hargita and Kovászna counties
form a single union, a Kosovo would evolve in Transylvania enabling extremists to claim
autonomy as a result of their majority within the territory. When asking if the counties of
Maros, Hargita and Kovászna should merge into a single region as RMDSZ demands, PDL
avoided giving a straight answer: “We are discussing this with our allies, all in good
time”. It is evident that PDL wishes to interlock the two crucial bills – the Minority Act
and the Administrative Reorganization Act – by asking governmental responsibility for
both and thus rendering a difficult situation for the coalition partner. The president
invited the parliamentary parties for a consultation on 21 June in order to adopt a
coalition agreement for the reform in question.
3

4. Critic of the minority language act
Slovakia - Felvidék
The Hungarian Government looked forward to the modification process of the Slovak Act
on the Use of Minority Languages. The amendment adopted by the Slovak National
Assembly on 25 May 2011, however, gave cause for disappointment. Although, some
aspects show a positive turn, the law henceforward maintains the atmosphere of
intimidation and vagueness. Many provisions of the act are of an optional, not of a
prescriptive nature. On the one hand, the law consists of new elements that obviously
show a step back compared to the existing practice. On the other hand, it upholds
provisions, which place users of minority languages at a disadvantage. Inter alia, the
Hungarian government was informed that in offices, where nationalities on the grounds
of their population quota are entitled to use their mother tongue, it is still not an
obligation to employ staffs that speaks the language in question. The amendment to the
act defines a timeframe for the administration procedure in minority language that is
conceived of a serious setback increasing the exposure of minorities. Furthermore, the
obligation of subtitling minority language TV programmes on state language is assessed
not just as discriminative but as an effort that is aimed at making minority commercial
broadcasting impossible, which causes competitive economic disadvantage for
minorities. The Association of Hungarian Television Broadcasters in Slovakia has also
criticised the act and will have recourse to the European Commission and other
international forums. The provision demanding the consent of all local policemen being
involved in a case to use minority language is unacceptable, in some cases even
humiliating. The Hungarian government therefore stresses the absurdity of the amended
act. It would serve the interest of Slovakia, if the state regulated the usage of minority
languages in line with fundamental human rights principles and international norms and
to the satisfaction of minorities. Hungary’s firm belief is that only such legislation could
solve the existing problems and restore the balance between the usage of state language
and minority languages that is in line with the relevant conventions of the Council of
Europe and with the recommendations of the OSCE High Commissioner for National
Minorities and the Venice Commission.
SMER-SD outraged by Kövér’s statements
SMER-SD urgently called on the Slovak government to react to the statements made by
the Hungarian parliamentary speaker László Kövér with a demarche, and to quickly draft
a strategy for defending Slovakia's national interests with respect to Hungary. The house
speaker Kövér gave an interview to the Czech daily Hospodarske Noviny while on a visit
to the Czech Republic. According to Kövér, Slovakia has brutally changed the borders
when building the Gabčíkovo – Nagymaros waterworks, thus giving a legitimate reason
for Hungary to use military force at that time. SMER-SD vice-chair Marek Maďarič said
that Kövér showed Hungary's true colours when he revealed that the current Hungarian
4

5. government was capable of considering a military attack against Slovakia. "That's
Slovakia - Felvidék
outrageous, unbelievable and scandalous," – stressed Maďarič. "It's quite clear that
Hungary interprets our silence not as empathy but as weakness," he said, adding that
prime minister Iveta Radičová as well as foreign affairs minister Mikuláš Dzurinda fail to
react to all the arrogant and aggressive steps made by the Hungarian government. The
Slovak foreign affairs ministry rejects the criticism stating that "SMER-SD is not capable
of any other international policy than the policy of generating disquiet, which Slovak
people reject.” In a response to the statements made by László Kövér, the foreign
minister said that he had refused to help Hungary in its effort to distract attention from
the fact that it had okayed several "non-European" laws. "We need to be wise and
responsible. We need to understand what the point is at the moment," said Dzurinda,
adding that, to the detriment of Slovakia, Kövér was seeking to deviate attention from
Hungary's internal and foreign-policy woes. Dzurinda thinks that Slovakia's leading
opposition SMER-SD party may well be doing a favour for Hungary by its urging the
Slovak government to issue a demarche in response to Kövér's allegations. Despite
labelling the house speaker’s statement as offensive and inappropriate, Dzurinda said
that "they don't constitute even a minor threat." However, he added that the Slovak
house speaker Richard Sulík's response was appropriate. Sulík claimed earlier that
threatening military intervention or even implying such a thing did not belong to the
vocabulary of good neighbours.
140 years of SNS
The Slovak National Party (SNS) celebrated its 140 years of existence. Though the party
perceives itself as an ideological heir to the conservative and nationalist historical Slovak
National Party established in 1871 and ceased in 1938, the “Slota-party” founded in 1989
is often described as ultra-nationalist, right-wing extremist or far-right, due to its
statements about Hungarians, Roma, and homosexuals. Slovaks still have to defend the
sovereignty of their statehood against the “magyarisation” in the south of Slovakia, even
though 140 years have passed since SNS was established, said the chairman Jan Slota. "At
the time when we should be able to live as a state-forming nation, we have to protect
ourselves from the activities of some political subjects in Slovakia, which have by their
initiatives ensured adoption of anti-Slovak laws, for example the Act on the Use of
Minority Languages. The aggressive politics of Hungary creates a feeling that the central
Europe is about to face at least a conflict over the territorial-administrative division. As
the Treaty of Trianon is evidently being doubted by Hungary" – stressed Slota.
5

6. Transcarpathia - Kárpátalja Vojvodina - Vajdaság
PM Orbán in Vajdaság
Prime minister Viktor Orbán was on an official visit to Vajdaság/Vojvodina, where he
met the president of the Alliance of Hungarians in Vajdaság István Pásztor. During the
visit the politicians discussed important issues concerning the Hungarian minority.
They welcomed that the former plans are implemented in the province, and the support
coming from Hungary can contribute to the success of the scholarship programs, the
dormitory programs and the school bus program. At the meeting, they touched upon
Serbia’s actual domestic politics, the EU accession, and the relationship between Serbia
and Kosovo. The politicians agreed that the prime minister would prioritize the issue of
Hungarian educational institutions when meeting the Serbian prime minister in the near
future.
Youth Council of Hungarians in Transcarpathia
A permanent forum was established on 30 May, in Beregszász/Berehove due to the
initiative of youth organizations in Transcarpathia. The Youth Council of Hungarians in
Transcarpathia sets out the ambition in its founding declaration to promote co-operation
between youth organizations of the region; to preserve the links to the homeland; to
stress the importance of mother-tongue education; and to facilitate the prosperity in the
birthplace.
Oath takings in the US
About two dozen people have taken Hungarian citizenship oaths at the consulates of
Chicago and Washington, last week. The first citizenship ceremony took place on 13 April
USA
in the States and it will likely continue in Miami and California.
6