The prime minister’s commissioner has said ethnic Hungarian organizations in Romania should jointly rework an ethnic minority bill that has been “stuck” in the Romanian parliament for over ten years.
During an interview with Romanian daily Bihari Napló, Katalin Szili suggested that Romanians and Hungarians should also work together on an education bill, adding that “Hungarian deputies should promote a position in the Romanian legislation which is backed by the whole Hungarian community.”
Concerning endeavors to achieve territorial autonomy for ethnic Hungarians living in a large bloc in Romania, Szili noted that ethnic Hungarian parties RMDSZ, MPP, and SZNT now agreed that, geographically, the desired status should cover the historical area of Szeklerland. Whether Romania’s constitution should be amended to grant autonomy to that region “can be decided when we are at the bridge; we should cross it once we have at all established dialogue with the Romanian majority”, she added.
According to MTI, Szili said she hoped that the Romanian government would realize that the Hungarian community is not seeking ways to break away from Romania but “to achieve self-government and self-determination within the Romanian state based on the European Union’s subsidiarity principle”.
“I ask the Romanian government and state for nothing other than to consider leaders of the Hungarian communities as partners and at least sit down with them and clarify the terminology,” Szili said.