Is a serious Hungarian-Romanian diplomatic conflict on the horizon?!
Katalin Novák, the new president of Hungary, is on a private visit to Transylvania. She stated that, as the president, she considers it her priority to represent all Hungarians. This is why the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs became enraged. Below, you can read more details.
“Today, I met Hunor Kelemen, the President of RMDSZ, the deputy prime minister of Romania. As the President of Hungary, I consider it my priority to represent all Hungarians, as it makes no difference to me whether someone lives inside the border or across it. Hungarians are Hungarians, period,” she wrote on her Facebook page yesterday morning after a meeting with Hunor Kelemen, Romania’s deputy prime minister and chairman of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ).
Katalin Novák and Hunor Kelemen. Photo: MTI
The Romanian foreign ministry said that Hungary could not represent the Hungarians living abroad. They can strengthen cultural ties with Hungarians who live in Romania, Slovakia or Ukraine. According to infostart.hu, the ministry issued a statement yesterday evening, and one of the ministry’s secretaries raised a formal objection to the Hungarian ambassador in Bucharest. They believe that no state can represent the citizens of other states. They referred to some international regulations issued by the Venice Commission and the OSCE, the Hungarian-Romanian treaty of understanding, cooperation, and good neighbourly relations signed in 1996, and the Declaration on the Strategic Partnership between the Governments of Romania and the Republic of Hungary for the 21st Century Europe (2001).
Romania would like to maintain a pragmatic relationship with Hungary, in favour of the Hungarian citizens, regardless of their ethnic background, the Romanian foreign ministry added.
Hungarian president: ‘Building community starts with building churches’
Katalin Novák, Hungary’s new president, said in Lopadea Noua (Magyarlapád), in central Romania, that ten churches were consecrated in ten locations in Transylvania on Friday. “It is no coincidence that when there is war and ideological destruction, churches are the first to be destroyed because churches are the places where communities start to form,” she said. “We are building and upgrading churches across the Carpathian Basin because this is how we start strengthening our communities,” she added.
The president noted that Lopadea Noua was established in the year 1030 and was registered as the property of Queen Gisela, the wife of St. Stephen, Hungary’s first king.
“By dedicating ten churches today, we are also sending the message that we will be here after a thousand years, among brothers and sisters, addressing one another in Hungarian,” she said.
The consecration marked the Hungarian Reformed Church Unity Day, which is celebrated on May 20 each year. Earlier on Friday, Novak met Hunor Kelemen, Romania’s deputy prime minister, in Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár). In Aiud (Nagyenyed), she met Transylvanian Reformed Bishop Béla Kató.
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Source: infostart.hu, MTI
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3 Comments
I would’ve thought that Madame President had more political nous than to use such terms in a country where sensitivity to such public expressions is intense, in particular when it comes from a visiting leader of another country.
How would Hungary’s FIDESZ members of parliament react if Klaus Iohannis was in Hungary and he declared that he represents all Romanians, no matter where they live?
This is why she should never have been given this job. It’s all about diplomacy, tact, intelligence. Her statement, whilst sounding nice, just seems a very childlike and immature outlook on things. This position seems way beyond her capabilities, only been in the job five minutes and already upset a country.
Such actions from Mrs President leads to more division, “us” and “them”. Trasilvania is a multicultural society, that’s an amazing strength that can only be nurtured with mutual respect. People have been living there together for centuries with relatively no major issues. That’s no way Transilvania can succeed without its people coming together. It’s just irresponsible and selfish having politicians create division and tension.