Hungary academic Vizi to return Romanian state honour

Budapest, March 21 (MTI) – Hungarian academic Szilveszter E Vizi said on Monday he will return the honour he received from the Romanian state in 2006.

Vizi, president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences between 2002 and 2008, told MTI he would return the Star of Romania, Officer’s Cross in response to Romanian President Klaus Iohannis’ decision to withdraw the Star of Romania in the rank of Knight from Hungarian MEP László Tőkés.

Vizi, who is now head of the Friends of Hungary Foundation, told MTI that he informed the Romanian ambassador in Hungary about his decision in a letter expressing surprise and grave disappointment over Iohannis’ move.

He noted that Tőkes had received the honour in 2009 for his historic role in the 1989 revolution and democratic transition in Romania, adding that Iohannis’ move “suggests the appearance of some sort of rehabilitation of the spirit of the Ceausescu era in Romania.”

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters