Parliament declares Oct 16 Day of Hungarian-Szekler Cohesion

Parliament on Wednesday voted to declare October 16 the Day of Hungarian-Szekler Cohesion.

The proposal was submitted by Istvn Szávay, a former lawmaker of conservative opposition Jobbik.

Szávay proposed in October, on the 170th anniversary of the Szekler national assembly of Agyagfalva, that 11 centuries of Hungarian-Szekler co-existence should be commemorated with a memorial day.

The initiative was backed by all parliamentary party groups except the Democratic Coalition and adopted with 139 votes in favour.

Leaders of Transylvania’s Szekler community hailed the outcome of the parliamentary vote in a statement.

“The 60,000 Szeklers who gathered on October 16-18, 1848 for their national assembly in Agyagfalva unanimously declared support for the Hungarian government.

The date marked the beginning of a Szekler popular uprising and their joining of Hungary’s 1848/49 freedom fight,” they said.

Source: MTI