Romanian airline AirConnect has cancelled its flight between Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár) and Budapest. The direct route between Cluj-Napoca and Budapest was removed from the Romanian airline’s booking system. The route was launched on 28 March.
However, from 28 March 2023 until now, the airline has operated only three flights without delay between Cluj Napoca and the Hungarian capital, the aviation news portal writes.
For technical and/or commercial reasons, some of the airline’s flights were merged with those between Budapest and Bucharest, while others were cancelled.
The last AirConnect flight between Cluj Napoca and Budapest was operated on 10 June 2023, and the one on 13 June was cancelled, according to Flightradar24.
However, flights between Bucharest and Budapest will continue to be operated twice a week, for which the booking system is currently open until the end of October, Budflyer, a Facebook page for aviation news, writes.
However, the Cluj-Napoca-Budapest line will not remain unserved. Aeroexpress will continue to operate flights three days a week.
This is the third time this summer that an airline has cancelled a previously announced new route in Budapest. Previously, Kuwait Airways and Dan Air both cancelled their planned flights to Budapest, Budflyer recalls.
Traffic has started at the Brașov-Ghimbav International Airport. It is the first greenfield project in Romania and will also serve Szeklerland.
The first greenfield project
The first flight of the Romanian airline Tarom from Bucharest landed on Thursday morning at the airport of Ghimbav, airportal.hu reports. The airport is just quarter of an hour’s drive from Brașov in Transylvania.
On board the plane were several members of the outgoing Romanian government. Outgoing Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca, President of the Senate, Sorin Grindeanu, the old-new Minister of Transport and Adrian Vestea, President of Brașov County Council, the candidate for the Ministry of Development, were present. Sándor Tamás, President of Covasna County Council and Árpád Antal, Mayor of Sfântu Gheorghe, also flew with the first plane, airportal.hu writes.
Support for the Brașov-Ghimbav International Airport
The leaders of the municipalities of Háromszék (literally “Three seats”) have supported the project from the beginning. Sándor Tamás said earlier that they had also obtained government support for the construction, as it was of paramount importance for them to get the airport up and running.
“A historic moment! From today, our region will take wings!” Árpád Antal wrote on his social media page after the landing in Brasov. The mayor of Sfântu Gheorghe said earlier that the Brașov-Ghimbav International Airport will bring the world closer to the people of Háromszék and will also bring them closer to the world, as it will speed up transport, which will contribute to the region’s competitiveness. He also drew attention to the fact that the airport has Hungarian signage in addition to information texts in Romanian, English and German.
“We are in the right place, we are home!” the politician said.
Wizz Air at the Brașov-Ghimbav International Airport
The Romanian Air Traffic Services Administration (ROMATSA) has so far approved a twelve-hour operation for the airport, from 7 AM to 7 PM. Romanian airline Dan Air has requested that the restriction be lifted as soon as possible.
The Hungarian-owned Wizz Air also operates flights from the airport to London and Dortmund, while the much-anticipated Budapest flight is still to come. However, charter flights to well-known foreign resorts will soon be available.
As we reported yesterday, Wizz Air is opening a new route this autumn to a wonderful tourist paradise – read more HERE.
The ruler of the United Kingdom, King Charles III has recently visited the village of Zalánpatak, which is an ethnic Hungarian village in the region of Transylvania, Romania. The king’s visitation was once again a huge success.
As we previously reported, Charles was captured on camera wearing a short-sleeved shirt and sunglasses, carrying a walking stick as he stepped out of his house in Zalánpatak on Saturday. The locals greeted the ruler with flowers and applause. He shook hands with people and engaged in conversations with those present, writes Transtelex.
Transylvanian excursion
Zalánpatak has become a real pilgrimage site, attracting curious onlookers and fans from all over Romania. The locals organised a picnic for the British monarch. Besides traditional Szekler dishes, there was also music with Hungarian folk songs to entertain His Highness.
Charles also went on a hiking trip. He and his companions covered a distance of 18 kilometres on foot, taking about six hours, through the hills from Miklósvár to Zalánpatak. They allegedly even stopped at a shepherd’s hut where they were offered cheese. His friend, Count Kálnoky Tibor emphasised in previous interviews that Charles didn’t need any convincing; the place captivated him immediately.
Charles III going on a hike. Source: MTI/Kátai Edit
On Kálnoky’s suggestion, Charles previously purchased an estate in Zalánpatak
“He felt so good that they sealed the purchase with the then-owner, an old lady, on the spot, with the condition that she could stay there until the end of her life.”
-recalled Mátyás Kálnoky, son of Tibor.
King and devoted conservationist
Charles’ annual visits generally follow the same script as this one. After a quick stop at Bucharest, where he shakes hands with officials such as the President, he travels to the Transylvanian region of Romania to spend his annual vacation there. This place holds a special place in Prince Charles’ heart. He has developed a deep connection with its natural beauty, culture and heritage over the years.
Charles III meeting the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis. Source: MTI/EPA/Robert Ghement
During his vacation, Prince Charles immerses himself in the local community and enjoys the tranquillity and simplicity of life in the countryside. In addition, he also takes part in various cultural events and engages with the local community. He has been known to attend traditional festivals, visit local artisans and even participate in traditional dances and music performances. His genuine appreciation for the local traditions and his efforts to promote them have earned him admiration and respect among the people of Transylvania.
Charles III meeting civilians. Source: MTI/Kátai Edit
Furthermore, Prince Charles uses his influence and platform to raise awareness about important issues affecting the region. These include, for example, biodiversity loss, rural development and sustainable agriculture. He often advocates for the preservation of Transylvania’s unique landscapes and the importance of maintaining a balance between conservation and economic progress.
Overall, Prince Charles’ annual visits to Transylvania allow him to actively contribute to the well-being and preservation of the region. His genuine love for Transylvania and its people has made him a beloved figure in the area. All in all, his dedication to sustainable practices serves as an inspiration for environmentalists and conservationists worldwide.
Góbéfest is back, transporting the sights, sounds and tastes of Transylvania and the Carpathian Basin to the centre of Manchester, UK!
Manchester’s free annual celebration of the music, dance, food and drink of the legendary Carpathian Basin region of Eastern Europe is back from Friday 23-Sunday 25 June 2023.
Góbéfest’s multiple stages, colourful traders’ stalls and family activity tents will transform Cathedral Gardens into a riotous melee of swirling skirts, spirited strings and stomping feet, all served up with steaming dishes of goulash and clinking glasses of palinka fruit brandy.
Source: Góbéfest
Established in 2017 to celebrate the little-known culture and traditions of the Székler people – a group of ethnic Hungarians living in Transylvania, which is part of Romania – Góbéfest now also showcases the practices and folklores of other cultures from across Europe’s centre and east.
The festival takes its name from the Hungarian word góbé, which is a friendly word for a ‘crafty Székely’.
For three days in June, stages across Cathedral Gardens will play host to an array of bands, choirs, ensembles, orchestras, solo performers and dance groups in the Transylvanian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Romanian and Polish traditions.
Source: Góbéfest
The popular food and drink market will serve up infamous and lesser known dishes from around the region, including langos, paprikash, chimney cakes and goulash.
Free family activities will be centred around the children’s activity and dance tents in Cathedral Gardens and will include beginners’ dance classes in a variety of eastern European traditions, arts, crafts and zither workshops.
Music programme includes: the 150-strong Children’s Philharmonia of Szentegyháza (Transylvania), singer Koszika (Transylvania), Finom Zenekar (Transylvania), Yek Duy (UK), Folktone Trio (Hungary/UK), Manchester Zither Ensemble, Stacja Fanfara (Bulgaria/Poland/Macedonia/ UK), The Kalinka Balalaika Ensemble (UK), Michael Billington & Ildikó Csige (Hungary/UK), Michael Cretu Trio (Romania/UK), Manchester Youth String Orchestra and Berci Bíró (Transylvania)
Dance programme includes: Százlábú Caterpillar Dance Ensemble (Transylvania), Ansamblul Tezaur Romanian Dance Group (UK/Romania), Hunique Folk Ensemble (UK/Hungary), Polonez Polish Dance Ensemble (UK/Poland), Podilya Ukrainian Dance Ensemble (UK/Ukraine), TK “Ripni-Ka” North-West Bulgarian Dance Group (UK/Bulgaria), Hungarian Folk Dance Group of Bristol (UK/ Hungary), Szép Arany Hungarian Folk Dance Group (UK/Hungary) and Manchester Hungarian Folk Youth Ensemble (UK/Hungary)
Free family workshops: zither, Ringató baby music, folk dance, Kodály music workshops, storytelling, singing, arts and crafts
Góbéfest was established in Manchester in 2017 to celebrate the little-known culture and traditions of the Székler people – a minority group of ethnic Hungarians living in Transylvania, which is part of Romania.
Since 2017, Góbéfest has grown to include more cultures from around eastern and central Europe, particularly around the area known as the Carpathian Basin including Hungary, Romania and Poland.
Culture and Innovation Minister János Csák attended the opening ceremony of this year’s Danube Day in Rimetea (Torockó), in central Romania, on Saturday.
In his address, the minister noted that 2023 saw the bicentennial of three events: it was in 1823 that poet Ferenc Kölcsey finalised the text that later became Hungary’s national anthem, while poet and revolutionary Sándor Petőfi and playwright Imre Madách were born in the same year. “They are the roots of Hungarian culture … a tight weave, and when we talk about cohesion … it is taking care of that fabric … our shared treasure,” the minister said in Torockó.
Photo: MTI
Photo: MTI
Photo: MTI
Photo: MTI
Photo: MTI
Photo: MTI
“We must preserve our mother tongue, and not just the spoken language, but the language of dance and music … that unparallelled cultural treasure that we have in our hands,” Csák said. “Culture gives us an identity; without culture we would be like dust blowing in the wind. Preserving our culture and our identity will make us strong,” he added.
Anita Altorjai, the head of public media provider Duna Médiaszolgáltató, noted it was the ninth Danube Day organised by the Hungarian public media, “opening the doors of the Danube House wide open”. She added that the exhibitions, concerts and literary events this year all focused on Petőfi’s figure.
She also noted that preserving the spiritual heritage of ethnic Hungarian communities, presenting their historical and cultural values and presenting them to other communities in the Carpathian Basin and in the Hungarian diaspora was one of the most important tasks of the public media.
King Charles III is already in Romania, where he met with President Klaus Iohannis in Bucharest yesterday morning. But after the official programs ended, he went to Zalánpatak, a small Hungarian village in Transylvania, Romania, where he has a mansion and regularly spent time during the summers when he was the Prince of Wales. As king, he returns because, as he says, he loves Transylvania and Romania.
Formalities in Bucharest
According to Yahoo News, King Charles III arrived in Romania for his first foreign visit after his coronation on 6 May. He was welcomed with military honours yesterday by Romania’s German-born president, Klaus Iohannis, in Bucharest. Their meeting was followed by a reception with 300 partakers in the Romanian Presidential Cotroceni Palace.
“The King has begun his first overseas visit since his coronation, travelling to Romania for a private solo stay in the country’s Transylvanian region,” Buckingham Palace wrote. “It is not known how long Charles will spend in Romania,” they added.
“I’ve come to love Romania: your culture and art, your heritage and history, your sweeping landscapes and priceless biodiversity,” the king said at the reception.
The return of the king
Charles did not remain in the Romanian capital for long. After the official programs ended, he headed to Transylvania, to Zalánpatak (Valea Zălanului), a small Hungarian village (96 percent of the locals are Hungarians). There, the king owns a mansion. He regularly spent time there when he was the Prince of Wales. And it seems he plans to spend some time there even as king. Here are two photos of his arrival and how happily locals welcomed him. He was accompanied by his “local” Hungarian friend, Count Tibor Kálnoky.
Photo: MTI
Photo: MTI
We wrote HERE how Charles “fell in love” with the tiny Hungarian settlement and its astonishing environment 25 years ago. To sum up, the village is at the end of a side road, in the middle of some beautiful forests where only the barking of the shepherd dogs disturbs tranquillity. His local Hungarian cook, Aunt Eve, even shared some secrets about him: we also wrote about it in our article.
The British monarch owns several properties in Transylvania, where he is good friends with Count Tibor Kálnoky. He sent THIS message to Charles when Elizabeth II died last year. Interestingly, King Charles did not go to Transylvania by chance. He is 1/32 Hungarian since his great-great-great-granny was Hungarian. Klaudia Rhédey was born near Marosvásárhely in Transylvania and married Prince Louis Paul Alexander (1804-1885) of Württemberg. Klaudia Rhédey was the grandmother of George V’s wife, Mary of Teck (1867-1953).
Wizz Air will suspend some of its international flights from Cluj-Napoca and Timișoaraairports from the end of October this year, among other flights.
Wizz Air flights cancelled in Romania
According to the 2023-2024 timetable, flights from Catania (Italy), Larnaca (Cyprus), Liverpool (UK), Luqa (Malta) and Naples (Italy) will not operate from Cluj-Napoca, Krónika Online reports.
Furthermore, it will no longer be possible to fly from Timișoara to Treviso in Italy with the Hungarian low-cost airline from the indicated date.
These are not the only flights that Wizz Air will have to say goodbye to: in Bucharest, flights to Aarhus (Denmark), Alghero (Italy), Malmö (Sweden) and Santander (Spain), and in Iași (Jászvásár), flights to Catania and Treviso (Italy) will be withdrawn.
Although airlines formally use the term “suspension” in such cases, it is rare for affected flights to resume within a short time, Krónika Online concludes.
Summer flights to be cancelled
As we wrote last week, it is more than possible that these will not be the only flights the Hungarian low-cost airline will have to cancel. What is more, due to engline failure problems, cancelling flights will be a global phenomenon this summer.
The visit of the British monarch Charles III to Romania in June will be a private one, but the King will also meet with Romanian head of state Klaus Iohannis as a courtesy gesture, British Ambassador to Bucharest Andrew Noble said on Monday.
The diplomat told the Romanian news agency Agerpres that this is the first visit to Romania by a British monarch in the person of Charles III. But this visit will be as private as the King’s visits to Romania as Prince of Wales. He said that this year will mark the 25th anniversary of Charles III’s first visit to Romania in 1998.
The ambassador did not give details of the programme. He said that after a visit to the Cotroceni Palace, the residence of the Romanian head of state, the visit would be private. He reminded that the British monarch has a number of projects in Romania, which he is carrying out in cooperation with NGOs, and that he usually visits Romania to find out about them, which is also expected to happen this time.
Andrew Noble added that the British government also cooperates with NGOs in a number of areas and that as King Charles III, he could continue his activities in this area in consultation with the government.
However, this is a private visit, he stressed. He added that he would not give any more details, precisely in order not to compromise the private nature of the visit.
“One of Romania’s great advantages is its silence, so we treat (the king’s) private visits accordingly,”
Agerpres quoted the diplomat as saying.
Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca confirmed last Tuesday that Charles III, the monarch of the United Kingdom who was crowned in early May, will visit Romania on the second of June. He said that his cabinet, together with the presidential office and other institutions, would play a role in preparing for the visit.
As Prince Charles of Wales, he has been a regular visitor to Romania since 1998, buying several houses in Transylvania and a farm in Zalánpatac, Szeklerland, which he has visited almost every year.
The British royal family also has Hungarian roots in Transylvania: the king’s fair mother, Klaudia Rhédey, was born in 1812 in Erdőszentgyörgy in Mures County and was brought up in the Rhédey manor there.
As we wrote before, King Charles’s Hungarian cook shared secrets about his visits to Zalánpatak, details HERE.
One of the biggest events of the Hungarian nation, the Csíksomlyó pilgrimage, was held over the weekend, and President of Hungary Katalin Novák was also among the attendees. The President is rather active on Facebook, and it seems that the Romanian Foreign Ministry is also watching her posts with a wary eye.
Katalin Novák’s followers were able to keep track of the main stops of her trip to Szeklerland. She also bowed her head at the tomb of the “greatest Szekler”, Balázs Orbán. On the Szék road from the Márton Áron College High School in Csíkszereda (Miercurea Ciuc) to Csíksomlyó (Șumuleu), Katalin Novák joined hundreds of thousands of other pilgrims on their journey to the Csíksomlyó Church of the Holy Cross, which then headed to the mountain range between Kis and Nagysomlyó, where they all attended the traditional mass of the farewell.
Photo: MTI
Photo: MTI
Photo: MTI
The Romanian Foreign Ministry, however, did not seem to be particularly pleased about the visit. Even though President Novák was on a private trip, they believed that she had conveyed inappropriate messages to the public, for instance, in regard of a historical region of Romania.
According to the Agerpres news agency, the Romanian Foreign Ministry has also contacted Hungary’s ambassador in Bucharest discussing the matter. In a statement, they expressed that they objected to the posts published on the Facebook page of Katalin Novák. Furthermore, they pointed out that the Romanian side has repeatedly warned Hungarian officials visiting Romania to exercise restraint, but this time they failed to do so.
The Romanian government believes that the problematic statements run counter to the common desire of promoting an amicable neighbourly rapport and maintaining cooperation between the two countries, which is sanctioned by the treaty signed in Timisoara (Temesvár) in 1996 and in another agreement signed on the strategic partnership between the two countries, Agerpres reported.
Bucharest apparently has an issue with the summary video, which shows all sorts of pictures and details of the farewell ceremony, with the Szekler anthem playing in the background.
The Szekler anthem has been the source of several conflicts in Romania over the years. What adds to the issue is that Katalin Novák gave the following title to the video she posted:
“Don’t let Transylvania be lost, our God” (“Ne hagyd elveszni Erdélyt, Istenünk”).
This must have been the “inappropriate” message concerning a historic region that the Romanian Foreign Ministry cited and objected to.
In 2022, the Hungaricum Committee decided to include the Szekler anthem in the Hungarian Heritage List, making it a national treasure.
On Monday morning, another earthquake was detected not far from the Hungarian-Romanian border. This is the third earthquake recorded in western Romania in a week.
Another earthquake was recorded in Romania on Monday morning at 5.25am local time, about 16 kilometres from Arad, according to the National Disaster Management Agency, informed by the Kövesligethy Radó Seismological Observatory of the Institute of Geophysics and Space Sciences.
The earthquake had a magnitude of 3.4, and it is possible that the earthquake may have been felt in Hungarian settlements along the border, but no damage was reported.
An earthquake of magnitude 4.6 was recorded on 22 May near Arad. A day later, also near Arad on 23 May, a 4.2 magnitude earthquake was recorded in the morning and a 4.1 magnitude earthquake in the evening.
As we wrote before, Hungarians saved more than 30 lives in Türkiye – Photos
President Katalin Novák on Saturday attended Pentecost mass in Sumuleu Ciuc (Csiksomlyó), in central Romania, and said it was “uplifting to experience when the nation is together.”
The open-air mass is part of the largest pilgrimage of Hungarian Catholics, drawing hundreds of thousands of believers from Hungary and the diasporas every year. Talking to Hungarian public media, Novák said the pilgrimage united Christianity and Hungarian identity. This year’s attendees prayed for peace, which seems even more valuable with the war in a neighbouring country, where Hungarian nationals have also lost their lives, she said.
After mass, the president visited the church in Sumuleu Ciuc, and the statue of the Virgin Mary which the Catholic Church declared miraculous statue in 1798. Former President János Ader and Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén also attended.
Speaker of Parliament László Kövér on Friday attended the unveiling ceremony of the statue of Kossuth Prize-winning ethnic Hungarian author Áron Tamási (1897-1966) in Budapest on Friday.
In his address at the ceremony, Kövér said Tamasi’s works had their “gold backing in reality, faithfulness to the nation, and the character and responsibility of the man of letters”. His works have “infused an effervescent power of Szekler life to Hungarian literature”. Tamasi’s statue has been erected in Budapest’s 12th district where he moved to in 1944 and died on this day in 1966.
A metro is being built in Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár), the “capital” of Transylvania, Romania’s second most populous city.
The city council signed the design and construction contract for the Cluj-Napoca metro line with representatives of the consortium of Turkish Gülermak, French Alstom and Romanian Arcada companies on Thursday in the glass hall of Cluj-Napoca City Hall, napi.hu reports.
Several representatives of the Romanian government, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca, Interior Minister Lucian Bode and Transport Minister Sorin Grindeanu were present at the event, as the project is largely financed under the National Recovery Plan (PNRR).
Nicolae Ciuca described the Cluj-Napoca metro line project as the most valuable and significant investment of the last 30 years.
The metro project involves a EUR 2 billion investment. The planning process will take six months, after which construction can start.
19 stations planned to be built by 2031
The PNRR requires the first nine stops to be completed by 31 July 2026, even if there are no trains running between them. The project will continue until 2031, when all 19 stops must be built and operational, napi.hu explains.
A separate transport plan will be drawn up for the construction period, which will last several years and will also affect the city centre, because traffic in the city is already heavy.
Representatives from the consortium of Turkish Gülermak, French Alstom and Romanian Arcada said that they had already built a metro in Dubai and were ready to do the same quality work in Cluj-Napoca.
The consortium will spend RON 9.059 billion (EUR 1.8 billion) excluding VAT to design and build the Cluj-Napoca metro line.
21 km metro line to cross the city
St Michael’s Church with the statue of Matthias Corvinus at Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár) photo: Daily News Hungary
The metro line will be 21 kilometres long and will run east-west through the city and the agglomeration, including the main square. It will run for 14.7 kilometres in Cluj Napoca and 6.3 kilometres in the area of Florești (Szászfenes), west of the city, which has a population of around 40,000.
19 stops will be built on the metro line. Between them, three-car trains will run every minute and a half, carrying 21,600 passengers per hour.
Driverless trains
Alstom’s turnkey metro system will enable driverless operation, with Urbalis CBTC (communications-based train control) technology supporting high-capacity service, an integrated control centre and a state-of-the-art cyber security interface. Romania’s first fully automated metro line will operate in an energy-efficient way, making a significant contribution to green mobility throughout Cluj-Napoca.
CityRocks, Central Europe’s largest rock band, is preparing for two major concerts in 2023. The hundreds of rock musicians will first perform in the European Capital of Culture, Veszprém on June 18, followed by a Transylvanian performance in Satu Mare (Szatmárnémeti) on July 29.
Anyone can become a member of the giant orchestra if they have at least basic vocal or instrumental knowledge, but amateur and professional musicians from the region are also welcome to apply, thus supporting the musical mission of the European Capital of Culture VEB2023, which invites the production to Veszprém: “Music here happens not only for us, but with us”.
“CityRocks is always more than a party. Hundreds of musicians arrive from small children to elderly people, from factory workers to top managers. It is also completely irrelevant whether someone has equipment worth a few tens of thousands of forints or even millions. Everyone carries the essence within themselves anyway: it doesn’t matter where someone comes from, and it doesn’t matter where they will go next. But here, in a frenetic environment, we can experience how easily we can actually connect with each other. This is the miracle of live music,” said Ferenc Gajda, the main organizer, who believes that both venues are symbolic.
“Veszprém is one of the most important venues on the continent this year, as the city of queens hosts countless events as the European Capital of Culture. This cavalcade sends the same message as CityRocks: as many of us as there are, we can show common values.”
Veszprém has held the title of UNESCO City of Music since 2019, and this year Veszprém is the European Capital of Culture together with the Bakony-Balaton region. VEB2023 EKF pays special attention to events offering the experience of playing music, so that Veszprém can become the city where proportionally the most people play music and sing, as several studies prove that cities where many people play music are happier. CityRocks is coming to Veszprém at the invitation of the VEB2023 EKF music development program, whose mission is specifically to popularize amateur music, to create a new, urban concept of music education and community music.
Satu Mare is symbolic because it lies on the other side of a border to which neighbouring peoples have historically had very different attitudes. It is not our job to resolve this tension, but if Hungarians and Romanians and even Ukrainians play music together at our event, it may set an uplifting example for everyone to look forward to the future. The real boundaries are in people. And playing music together can always open them up.”
Singers, guitarists, bass players, drummers, and keyboard players can also apply to perform. Those who are admitted to the orchestra can prepare for the two-hour concert with the help of instructional videos made by the organizers, so even less experienced musicians will be able to perform at a high level. You can apply on the www.cityrocks.eu page. Anyone who wants to be a member of the giant orchestra only needs to send a short video of their own musical production.
As we wrote before, V4 Festival to offer over 100 programmes, details HERE.
Hungarian President Katalin Novák inaugurated a statue of Ferenc Kölcsey in Nagykároly (Carei), Transylvania, Romania on 12 April. The head of state was greeted by anti-Hungarian chants in the municipiu in Satu Mare County. Now, the Directorate of Culture of Satu Mare County has requested the demolition of the recently inaugurated Kölcsey statue due to the “irregular stone foundation”. As a reaction, the mayor of Nagykároly firmly stated that they could not lay a finger on the monument.
Statue inaugurated by Hungarian President Katalin Novák
On 12 April, Katalin Novák inaugurated the seated statue of Ferenc Kölcsey in Nagykároly (Carei), Transylvania. The head of state was greeted by anti-Hungarian chants, with Romanian media claiming that the president was the one who provoked anti-Hungarian nationalists.
By “provocation”, the Romanian news television channel Digi24 meant that Katalin Novak started to walk towards the people shouting. A video of this action was also published, Főtér writes.
The Hungarian head of state, however, had no intention of angering the nationalists. There was no confrontation, Index writes: Novák did not bother with the obscenities thrown at her, but rather changed direction. Before the arrival of the Hungarian president, protesters unfurled a huge national flag. They also chanted patriotic and anti-Hungarian slogans in anticipation of the statue’s inauguration.
The Directorate of Culture fined the Mayor’s Office
A few days later, the Directorate of Culture of Satu Mare County fined the Mayor’s Office of Nagykároly for the inscription on the statue. The statue of Ferenc Kölcsey bears the third line of the Himnusz (“Nyújts feléje védő kart” – “Extend over it [Hungary] your guarding arm”) as well as the poet’s name, together with a musical score from Ferenc Erkel’s music.
The regional authority has imposed a fine of RON 10,000 (EUR 2025) on the mayor’s office. The reasons is that the monument bears only Hungarian inscriptions and no Romanian ones, Index reports
That was still not enough for the organisation. They claim that the site inspection found that the sculpture did not comply with the Ministry of Culture’s permit. “The Mayor’s Office of Nagykároly has not removed the stone foundation and there is an inscription on it. There is no inscription on the application for a permit,” Libertatea quoted the Culture Directorate’s findings as saying.
The expansion of the passenger terminal and the aircraft parking area at Cluj Napoca (Kolozsvár) International Airport will be carried out to cope with the high number of passengers and the increasing number of flights, with an investment of RON 365 million (HUF 28 billion, EUR 74 million), of which RON 129 million (HUF 9.8 billion, EUR 26.1 million) will be financed by the EU, the management of Cluj Napoca Avram Iancu International Airport said in a statement on Monday.
Transylvania’s largest and Romania’s second largest airport has been facing congestion problems for years. Now, the passenger terminal for departing foreign flights will be increased by 7,200 square metres, two new boarding gates will be opened and the parking area for planes will be increased by 9,000 square metres. At the same time, a new gate will be opened for domestic departures, which have also increased recently.
The current expansion is a temporary solution, with the airport management planning to build a new passenger terminal in the longer term, the Monitorul de Cluj news portal quoted airport director David Ciceo as saying.
Cluj-Napoca airport management recently reported that passenger traffic in the first quarter of the year exceeded the pre-pandemic level, with around 600,000 passengers using the airport, six percent more than in the same period of 2019 and 80 percent more than a year earlier. They expect to reach one million passengers in May, one month earlier than last year. In 2022, the airport handled 2.26 million passengers, and this year the number will exceed 3 million.
New airlines at Cluj Airport
Nine airlines operate flights from Cluj-Napoca airport to more than 50 destinations. New flights are planned for the summer season and existing ones will be more frequent.
As we wrote a week ago, An agreement has been made to complete the fourth motorway between Hungary and Romania in 2030, details HERE.
Also, we wrote a few days ago that Wizz Air is to operate two new flights from the international airport of Brasov/Brassó in Transylvania, details HERE.
Every Easter Sunday, the largest traditional food consecration in the Carpathian Basin is held in Csíkszereda (Miercurea Ciuc), where thousands of people always gather.
One of the largest Hungarian-inhabited cities in Szeklerland, Csíkszereda, held the traditional Easter Sunday food consecration. The baskets containing ham, eggs, bread, and wine were blessed by retired auxiliary bishop József Tamás.
Csíkszereda food consecration on Easter Sunday. Photo: MTI
Csíkszereda food consecration on Easter Sunday. Photo: MTI
Csíkszereda food consecration on Easter Sunday. Photo: MTI
Csíkszereda food consecration on Easter Sunday. Photo: MTI
Csíkszereda food consecration on Easter Sunday. Photo: MTI
Csíkszereda food consecration on Easter Sunday. Photo: MTI
In 2020, only live streaming was available, while last year, the service was extended to include a cross, with the obligatory wearing of masks and a two-metre distance between the crosses.
Wizz Air is to operate two new flights from the international airport of Brasov/Brassó in Transylvania. Among the anticipated destinations is Budapest. However, there is a twist.
Wizz Air goes to Brasov, but not how we expected
According to maszol.ro, the Hungarian low-cost airline announced its first flights from the newly-built Brasov International Airport located in Ghimbav (Vidombák). However, the budget airline said they would be in Dortmund and London instead of Budapest. The first planes will take off on 2 August to London-Luton and on 2 September to Dortmund, Germany. The former will commute on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while the latter route will be used on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
The director of the airport, Alexandru Anghel, said that they made a long and thorough analysis and they hope those would only be the first destinations of Wizz Air from the Ghimbav (Vidombák) Airport. London is practically a compulsory destination for all airlines in Romania: more than 100,000 citizens live, work, and study in the UK capital. Dortmund is the eighth biggest German city and a crucial cultural, educational, and economic centre. Brasov itself has more than 20,000 Hungarians citizens and Szeklerland is also very close with more than 750,000 Hungarians. Thus, the new flights concern a lot of local Hungarians.
But what about the Budapest flight(s)? We wrote in March that, based on a reliable source of mytex.ro, Wizz Air will establish a route between Brasov and Budapest from 15 June, when the regular air traffic will start there. It seems those sources proved wrong in that regard. Anyway, Budflyer, a Hungarian travel news Facebook page, argues that Wizz Air will soon launch a Budapest flight from Brasov. We promise to follow the relevant infos.
Wizz Air promises compensation for its passengers stuck in Berlin
According to 168.hu, Wizz Air apologised and promised compensation for its passengers who would have come home from Berlin but remained stuck in the German capital due to the bad weather. First, they were told their flight would take off in the evening. However, hours later, they cancelled it. That is because there was a snowstorm in Iasi, where it should have taken off to fly to Berlin. Wizz Air sent an emergency flight which arrived on 5 April but could not take off because the airport closed. As a result, it carried all passengers to Budapest on 6 April.
