Szeklerland

Hundreds of thousands of Hungarian believers in Csíksomlyói búcsú – PHOTOS

Hundreds of thousands of believers from Hungary, Transylvania and other places around the world, make the pilgrimage to Csíksomlyó (Sumuleu Ciuc) at Pentecost. We collected the best pictures:

President highlights message of reconciliation in pilgrimage homily

Hungarian President János Áder stressed the message of reconciliation in a homily delivered at a pilgrimage in Sumuleu Ciuc (Csíksomlyó), Romania, on Saturday.

“Peace was the central message of Bishop András Veres’s homily,” Áder told journalists after the celebration of the mass.

“We must make peace with ourselves as well as create peace within our families, communities, cities and countries. It would be welcome if this message was heard by as many people as possible,” he added.

Áder noted that he was participating in the annual pilgrimage for the fifth time since taking the office of president.

Photo: MTI

June 3, 2017

The seven wonders of Transylvania

After more than 20 thousand votes and 100 thousand page impressions, it finally turned out what the most popular wonders of Transylvania are – reports transindex.ro.

The voting of the initiative 7 wonders of Transylvania was closed at Sunday midnight, thus it turned out which the most popular Transylvanian wonders are, out of the 34 wonders that were were recommended by the experts, public figures and non-governmental organizations.

The Red Lake and the Bicaz Gorge received the most votes (1550), but both Lake Sfânta Ana (1484) and Turda Gorge (1004) got more than 1000 votes in the “competition” launched in May. The seven wonders also contain the Székelykő of Torockó, the boron water and mofetta of Székely Land, the statue of Virgin Mary of Șumuleu Ciuc (Csíksomlyó) and the Ursu of Sovata.

Lake Sfânta Ana
(Hungarian: Szent Anna-tó)

Click for the result of the vote

The main goal of the common initiative of Transindex and GoTransylvnia – which is available at erdelyicsodak.transindex.ro or by the mobile app of GoTransylvania – was not to choose the 7 wonders but rather to introduce and popularize all of the candidates.

The interest in the initiative was so high that more than 20 thousand votes were given, while more than 80 other Transylvanian wonders were recommended by the voters (more than 200 people took this opportunity) which were not included in the original list of the 34 wonders. Most people recommended the Artists’ Colony at Nagybánya.

The website registered 99,090 page impressions all together in less than a month’s time, on the basis of the IP addresses, most people visited the page from Budapest, Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár), Târgu Mureș (Marosvásárhely), Bucharest and Miercurea Ciuc (Csíkszereda). Regarding countries, of course, Romania and Hungary are first on the list, but more than a thousand people visited the page from Germany and Great Britain. Furthermore, many people from the United States, Austria and Slovakia were interested in the initiative. The age group of 35-44 was the most active (23% of the visitors), and 55% of the visitors was female.

The initiative will be continued, the work is already in progress to make the page trilingual, to plan some routes touching the wonders and to involve the wonders recommended by the readers. The GoTransylvania app is also close to be updated.

Ce: bm

June 1, 2017

Csíksomlyó pilgrimage strengthens cohesion among Hungarians

The annual Pentecost Pilgrimage in Csíksomlyó (Sumuleu Ciuc) strengthens cohesion among Hungarians and ties between the Hungarian and Romanian nation, the state secretary for church affairs said on Thursday.

Miklós Soltész gave an outline of events of two traditional pilgrimages taking place with Hungarian participants next month.

A train to the pilgrimage site in central Romania will depart from Budapest on June 1, he told a press conference. The open-air mass will be administered by county bishop András Veres, the president of the Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference.

Another train will depart for Czestochowa, in southern Poland, on June 26 to the Jasna Gora Monastery that holds the treasured icon image of the Black Madonna.

The government and the Rákóczi Association are funding the participation of 500 young Hungarians at the two pilgrimages, he said.

Photo: Daily News Hungary

May 11, 2017

Kálnoky Castle of Miklósvár is glorious again

Sokszinuvidek.24.hu reports that the building in which a museum has been established was opened to the public last weekend.

Kálnoky Castle of Miklósvár was built in 1648 on the foundation of another building. Through the years the Kálnoky family has got it reconstructed several times, but not only for enlargement – an earthquake and fire also made them necessary. The castle is unique among the castles in Szekler Land with its Late Renaissance outside ornaments.

The Kálnoky family has been owner of Miklósvár since the 16th century. The castle built in 1648 was the property of the family until the death of Count Dénes Kálnoky, after which his niece Ferenc Seethal inherited the estate. It was bought by Eugen Savu in 1939, who lost it during the deprivatization.

Count Tibor Kálnoky – renovator of the castle and founder of the museum – did not manage to get back the inheritance of his family, thus he rented the estate with the building from the local government of Barót in the long run.

The Kálnoky Foundation was supported by the Norway Grants, one condition of the financial aid was to revive the museum of Transylvanian life. The muzeum evokes several eras, and it presents the former lifestyles of the noble, the bourgeois and the peasants by faithful furniture.

The Kálnoky Foundation is not only occupied by renovating the former Kálnoky residence, but it also makes attempts at protecting the heritage of Eastern Transylvania, according to kalnoky.org. Through heritage protection it tries to support the sustainable development of Transylvania and the local community as well.

Photo: MTI

Ce: bm

April 29, 2017

The persecution of Szekler flag continues in Romania

The Covasna County Prefect’s Office recently ordered the Szekler flag to be removed from a monument in Micfalău/Mikóújfalu. Officials from the prefect’s office were conducting a routine inspection at the local council, when they noticed the Szekler flag hoisted on the monument dedicated to the memory of the soldiers that died in the First and Second World Wars.

This decision is just the latest one in a series of measures taken by government officials and nationalist activists against the Szekler flag. After numerous unfavourable court rulings, it is currently forbidden to raise the Szekler flag in public spaces. Thus, given the unlikeliness of succeeding in court, the mayor of Micfalău/Mikóújfalu, Ferenc DEMETER, decided not to appeal the decision, and following the example of other localities from Szeklerland facing the same issue, he said they will move the flag to the churchyard.

Despite the fact that in its annual reports on Romania the US State Department continually draws attention to the vicious persecution of minority symbols, Romanian authorities keep pursuing their relentless campaign against the Szekler flag, the Transylvanian flag and other regional and minority symbols. This “visceral opposition”, as described by the president of the Covasna County Council, Sándor TAMÁS, should be unacceptable in a country that prides itself on having an exemplary minority policy.

April 28, 2017

Jobbik stands for Hungarians in Transylvania and Partium

Press release – True to its origins, Jobbik has always stood for the rights of Hungarians living beyond our borders. The Hungarian People’s Party of Transylvania held its 5th general assembly meeting on the weekend and the event was attended by Jobbik’s spokesman István Apáti, who made a speech and delivered president Gábor Vona’s message as well.

Jobbik’s politician reported the event on his Facebook page. Mr Apáti emphasized how great it was to meet people who don’t consider regional autonomy as a mere political product. In his view, “the People’s Party is the only political organization to represent proper ideologies and values in Transylvania”.

“Ever since our party was established, we have always stood for the autonomy of the Szekler and Érmellék territories, we voted for the dual citizenship, we initiated a Trianon memorial day in Hungary and we were the first to suggest funding school excursions to Hungarian-populated areas beyond our borders.

” Our political position has always been characterized by taking responsibility for the Hungarian communities living abroad.”

Of course, this kind of political approach entails that Jobbik condemns any Romanian measures that attempt to question the state-forming role of the Transylvanian Hungarian community or to curb their rights for education and culture in their native language. “Our Hungarian brothers and sisters who were torn away from us can always rely on our help to protect their rights.”

April 24, 2017

Bilingual signs vandalised in Romania

A recent event in Toplița/Maroshévíz points out once more the existence of anti-Hungarian sentiment in Romania. On Tuesday morning locals found that on the bilingual (Romanian-Hungarian) place-name signs marking the various entrances into Toplița/Maroshévíz, the name of the city in Hungarian had been painted over during the night.

Attila Béla Bodor, the president of the local Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ) organisation voiced his concern over the matter. He added that it had been a long and arduous process to finally get the local public authorities to put up the bilingual signs in autumn last year – in a city where 22% of the inhabitants are Hungarian. According to the Romanian legislation, multilingual signs are mandatory when a minority population constitutes at least 20% of the population in a territorial and administrative division.

NO TOLERANCE FOR BILINGUAL SIGNS

The police investigation is under way, but it will likely prove difficult to find the culprits, since there are no surveillance cameras in the vicinity of these signs. Some speculated that it is probably a mischievous act committed by children. However, this is highly unlikely, given that the perpetrators would have had to use a car, otherwise it is hard to explain how they could cover such distances – travelling to each and every entrance into the city – in such a short space of time. Moreover, all the place-name signs have been painted over with the same bronze colour, which also points to a planned and coordinated action. Bodor expressed his hope that the Harghita County Prefect’s Office will also aid the investigations.

This lamentable incident is not an isolated case, as several bilingual signs have been painted over in recent years: Covasna/Kovászna, Târgu Secuiesc/Kézdivásárhely, and Gheorgheni/Györgyfalva – just to name a few. Sadly, these cases and others – such as the smearing of the Hungarian community’s statues and monuments – reflect a persistent anti-Hungarian attitude in Transylvania, which the authorities often do little to combat.

It is not difficult to see why an ordinary citizen might think that in committing such acts, they are fighting for a righteous cause, as the Romanian authorities often use every tool at their disposal to prevent bilingual signs from being put up, as was the case in the recent trial concerning bilingual place-name signs in Cluj-Napoca/Kolozsvár. Until there is a clear animosity towards bilingual signs coming from the authorities themselves, there will always be some members of the Romanian majority who will feel emboldened in their fight against these signs.

April 6, 2017

Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister: Survival of ethnic Hungarians abroad dependent on progress in autonomy

Budapest, March 20 (MTI) – The survival of ethnic Hungarian communities abroad depends on their ability to make progress towards autonomy, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén said in Budapest on Monday.

Speaking at a presentation of the latest volumes of the publication entitled Minority Rights, Interest Representation, Autonomy, Semjén said autonomy was both a goal and a vision for the future for ethnic Hungarians. He said Hungarians living beyond the border must never abandon their demands for autonomy.

Ethnic Hungarians’ ability to enforce their interests depends on the successes of ethnic Hungarian political parties, Semjén said. He argued that Hungarian interests could only be defended abroad if such Hungarian parties have representation in the given country’s parliament, at the local government level or if they take on roles within the government.

Hungary is of the view that ethnic Hungarian representation should be as unified as possible. If there is unity, there is success, Semjén said.

This is especially important in parliamentary elections, the deputy prime minister said. He added that ethnic Hungarians could not afford to have parties with no realistic chance of winning seats in parliament run in the elections, arguing that they just split the Hungarian vote.

Semjén said that apart from representing the interests of the local Hungarian community, ethnic Hungarian parties also had a responsibility to have a clear and acceptable message for the majority nation. He mentioned the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians in Serbia as an example of an ethnic Hungarian party that meets this criterion.

Photo: MTI

March 20, 2017

Public use of minority symbols continuously banned in Romania

The case of the Szekler flag, which represents the regional ethnic identity of the Hungarians living in the heart of Romania called Szeklerland, has become a rather controversial subject as far as the attitude of the Romanian authorities towards the national and regional symbols of the minorities is concerned. Despite the fact that the Constitution of Romania guarantees the right to identity for all citizens, it is becoming more and more apparent that there are some who are more equal than others.

Recently, the Romanian courts ordered the removal of the Szekler flag from the forefront and the chambers of several institutions and other public places of cities with a significant Szekler-Hungarian population. What is more, one of the latest decisions refers to a flag which was given as a donation to the Covasna County Council on the 30th of March 2016, and was recently ordered to be removed by the Brașov Court of Appeal.

According to Sándor TAMÁS, the President of the Covasna County Council, the Court has upheld the previous sentence of the Covasna Tribunal, deciding in favour of the Covasna County Prefect that sued the County Council for accepting the Szekler flag as a donation. Mr. TAMÁS, while discussing the subject of the different symbols, has also stated that “double standards are being applied by the Romanian authorities, since there are numerous emergency services institutions that are named after historical regions, such as the Oltenia Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (Inspectorat pentru Situații de Urgență – ISU), ISU Țara Bârsei, ISU Crișana, ISU Dobrogea or ISU Bucovina, something that is prohibited in the case of Szeklerland.”

The Court justified its decision by stating that the flag is illegal, because Szeklerland is not a separate administrative entity and that the Constitution of Romania does not recognize regions.

All this happened in spite of the fact that starting with 2013, even the U.S. State Department’s Human Rights Report on Romania continuously mentioned the problematic issue of the Szekler flag in the section dedicated to the breach of minority rights. Similarly, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) also recommended that the Romanian authorities ensure that the principle of equal treatment is applied as far as the use of national and regional symbols are concerned, and also to remedy any breach thereof.

Photo: MTI/AP/Vadim Ghirda

March 16, 2017

March 15 – That’s how Hungarians celebrated the national day – Photo gallery

Celebrations were held nationwide and in Hungarian communities abroad to mark the anniversary of Hungary’s 1848-49 revolution and freedom fight, on Wednesday. We collected the best pictures, please check the photo gallery:

Budapest

Polish participants in the march, photo: MTI

Colorful events at the the Hungarian National Museum, photo: MTI

SZEGED

Hódmezővásárhely

Carpathian basin

March 15 commemorations were also held in ethnic Hungarian communities of neighbouring countries.

Several hundred people celebrated the revolution’s anniversary in Bratislava, organised by local Hungarian organisations and the Hungarian embassy.

Representatives of Hungarian organisations and ethnic minority self governments in Croatia laid wreaths of commemoration at a monument to poet Sándor Petőfi in Zagreb. The ceremony was attended by deputy state secretary at the Hungarian prime minister’s office Péter Szilágyi.

Canada’s Hungarian community held a commemoration in Vancouver’s Hungarian House, attended by state secretary Árpád János Potápi.

Kézdivásárhely, Szeklerland, photo: MTI/AP/Vadim Ghirda

Székelyudvarhely, Szeklerland, photo: MTI

Nyerges-tetõ, Szeklerland, photo: MTI/AP/Vadim Ghirda

Beregszász, Transcarpathia (Ukraine), photo: MTI

March 15 commemorations were also held in ethnic Hungarian communities of neighbouring countries. State Secretary Levente Magyar spoke in Berehove (Beregszász), in western Ukraine, and said that the “glorious events of the distant past convey messages that are still valid today”.

Bácskossuthfalva, Vojvodina (Serbia), photo: MTI

Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén attended a celebration in northern Serbia’s Subotica (Szabadka) organised by Vojvodina’s VMSZ party. In his address, he said that Hungary has similar challenges now to the ones it faced in 1848; “for example when Hungary’s sovereignty is questioned in Brussels, telling us whom we should live together with”.

Hunor Kelemen, head of Romania’s ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ party, spoke at a commemoration in Salonta (Nagyszalonta, western Romania), and said that freedom in Romania is “not a rock-hard building but a garden which… needs to be recreated year after year; it may have old trees which call for pruning, and sometimes you need to plant new ones, too”.

Romania is at crossroads and it needs to chose “between rule of law, parliamentary democracy or an invisible but authoritarian power”, Kelemen said.

Featured photo: MTI/AP/Vadim Ghirda

March 15, 2017

Ruling Fidesz party: Hungary won’t tolerate trampling of national minority rights – UPDATE

Budapest (MTI) – The Romanian authorities are doing everything to undermine efforts by the Szekler community to strive for autonomy and celebrate their national day in a worthy manner, Gergely Gulyás, deputy head of the ruling Fidesz party’s parliamentary group, told a press conference on Friday, adding that Hungary would not tolerate any trampling of national minority rights.

Gulyás said Romania has form in illegally harassing the Hungarian community, and he accused its authorities of using measures against the Szekler community redolent of a “soft dictatorship”. He noted, for instance, a ban against flying the Szekler flag and petty restrictions imposed on the holding of public events and demonstrations.

He cited as an example the mayor’s office of Targu Mures (Marosvasárhely) restricting a march organised by the Szekler National Council to celebrate the day of Szekler freedom. He also said that a “procedure based on trumped-up charges” against the director of the Roman Catholic theology secondary school of Targu Mures only serves to thwart the school’s operation. Even the parents who raised their voices in support of the school got harassed by the authorities, he added.

It is Hungary’s constitutional obligation to support the community’s autonomy efforts, Gulyás said.

UPDATE

On Friday evening around 1,000 people gathered at a demonstration held in Heroes’ Square in Budapest.

“Autonomy is not negotiable, autonomy is something due,” the chairman of Hungarian parliament’s national cohesion committee told the crowd.

Politicians in Romania must realise that autonomy endeavours do not imply separatism, Károly Pánczél said.

Árpád György-Mózes, president of the Society for Szekler Land, demanded that Romania should recognise its native ethnic communities as constituents of the state, and guarantee their right to use their mother tongue. He also demanded that the Romanian government should start a dialogue with representatives of the Szekler community, he said.

March 11, 2017

Legislative proposal: imprisonment for pursuing autonomy

A member of parliament from the Social-Democratic Party (PSD) proposed imposing prison sanctions on those who promote the idea of autonomy in Romania.

“It could be funny, if it was not a very serious matter”. This is how Árpád Antal, the mayor of Sfântu Gheorghe/Sepsiszentgyörgy commented on the proposed measure against those who, according to the PSD politician, call for changing the constitutional order and try to prevent the state from exercising its power by pushing for autonomy.

According to the proposal that the Social-Democratic MP, Tudor Ciuhodaru, put before the Senate, those who call for changing the constitution would receive a prison sentence of up to 3 years. The MP from Iași County believes that the protests calling for Szeklerland’s autonomy, as well as similar requests made by László Tőkés and Csaba Sógor, Romanian Members of the European Parliament representing the Hungarian community, compel the Romanian Parliament to pass the proposed amendments to the Criminal Code.

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March 9, 2017

Association working for the preservation of Hungarian language gives donation to Transylvanian schools

The Magyar Nyelvőr Alapítvány (Guard for the Hungarian Language Association – loose translation) jointly with the African-Hungarian Union donated valuable books and school equipment to a Transylvanian school, Világszám.hu writes.

Pupils of Vaskertes Elementary School in Gyergyószentmiklós (Georgheni) thanked for the more than 300 books, and school equipment with a beautiful song. As Ildikó Bernárd, the director of the school told Világszám.hu, the love and respect for the Hungarian language is a priority for every children. Books are given to bright students and to other children who are interested in them, and school equipment are given to the poor. Dr. István Keszi, founder representative of the association highlighted that there is professional work going on in Vaskertes Elementary School, and the teachers there work with commitment to preserve the Hungarian language, Világszám.hu notes.

The association not only enhances the access to books of Hungarian kids living beyond the borders, but, with its more and more prestigious awards, it also honors those in Hungary, and those living abroad, who did a lot to preserve and spread the Hungarian language and culture, on a yearly basis. The representative of the African-Hungarian Union told Világszám.hu that their organization chose to support the initiative to help not only those living in Africa but those living in Hungary, and beyond its borders, as well. Accordingly with the spirituality of the association, they support every effort taken for making the Hungarian language more popular, and the students who learn Hungarian language abroad, as well, Dr. István Keszi told Világszám.hu.

ce: bm

March 4, 2017

The UK’s first Transylvanian Hungarian festival on May – Góbéfest

“There’s more to Hungarians than paprika and more to Transylvania than Dracula,” says Ottilia Ördög, organiser of the UK’s first Transylvanian Hungarian festival of arts and culture.

Date: Saturday 13-Sunday 14 May 2017
Venue: Albert Square, Manchester
Ticket: Free entrance

A Transylvanian herself, Ottilia felt it was time she shared her culture’s little known music, dance, cuisine and arts and crafts with her home for the last 26 years, Manchester; an adoptive city that, for its size, has been called the most culturally diverse in the world.

According to Professor Yaron Matras of the University of Manchester, the city is a league table topper, with up to 200 languages spoken by a population of just half a million.

Music, dance and food will be at the heart of Góbéfest, as they are at the heart of Transylvanian culture. A Góbé is a friendly word for a ‘crafty Székely’ a group of ethnic Hungarians living in Transylvania, which is currently considered part of Romania.

Acts from across the Hungarian diaspora will perform for free in the Manchester’s central Albert Square (13/14 May), which will also play host to the city’s first Hungarian market. A launch event, featuring the best Hungarian dance acts will take place at the Dancehouse theatre on the preceding Friday.

Musicians travelling to Manchester from Transylvania cover many styles, from folk right through to classical, jazz, rock and world music. They include hurdy gurdy maestro and renaissance music expert Robert Mandel , the Mátyás Király Zither Ensemble , who are all still at school, Gorillaz-esque pop trio Saverne, Transylmania, an eight piece folk rock band who have played together for 15 years and Folktone band, accomplished players of the ütőgardon, a folk instrument similar to a cello and almost unique to Transylvania.

Traditional folk dance troupes include H-Unique Dance, Szeredás Dance Group London and The Ti-Ti-Ta Hungarian Folkdance Group.

The Albert Square stage will be surrounded by market stalls, selling Hungarian food, drink, arts and crafts. Visitors can sample customary delicacies such as gulyás (a Hungarian stew also known as goulash), lángos (fried dough served with various toppings such as grated cheese, crème frèche and garlic) and kürtőskalács (a sweet doughy treat cooked over a spit).

A range of little known drinks will be sold, including Csiki, a craft beer brewed in Transylvania since 2014 to an ancient recipe, the fruit brandy palinka and the sweet Tokaji wine, whose six grape varieties are traditionally grown a thousand feet above sea level, near the Carpathian mountains.

Festival organiser Ottilia Ördög has been involved with the Manchester music scene for the last 20 years, since attending university in the city. She worked closely with the late Tony Wilson on In The City conference and has been an active member of urban radio station Unity Radio for over a decade. When she was 12, Ottilia’s family arrived in nearby Buxton, Derbyshire, from Transylvania with refugee status.

Ottilia said: “I think it’s very important to celebrate diversity and learn about other cultures. Manchester, being the third most multicultural city in the world, gives us the perfect location to do just that.

“Over the years, hundreds of people have asked me about Transylvania, where I grew up before moving to England, 26 years ago. Góbéfest gives me the opportunity to unveil the mystery.

“I am hoping that Góbéfest will also inspire some of the other less well known communities in Manchester to share and showcase their own culture.”

Read more details at www.gobefest.com

February 18, 2017

Will Szeklerland gain autonomy soon?

In Romania, citizens may initiate the parliamentary discussion of a draft, if it is supported by at least one hundred people. Signatures may be collected if the draft is legally sound according to the legislative committee, and if it becomes published in the Romanian Official Gazette, MTI told.

These conditions have been already met, and the committee of initiators aims to present to the Romanian Parliament the draft on the Autonomy of Székely Land – also called as Szeklerland – as citizen’s initiative.

The next step is to collect signatures,

said Zsolt Árus, one of the initiators, to MTI. He added that in the following week they would start to collect signatures in Gyergyószék, but the organization of a nationwide signature-collection shall remain the task of the Szekler National Council. He had explained before that presenting the draft on the autonomy by the parliamentary representatives of the Transylvanian Hungarians would be a more rational solution. Citizens’ initiative shall be an alternative solution only, he told to MTI, because it is extremely difficult to meet its requirements.

These requirements include collecting at least five thousand signatures from at least eight counties each. This means that the support of counties where Hungarians live only in diaspora is also needed.

Two drafts had been presented before on the Autonomy of Székely Land – in 2004, and later in 2012. Both had been refused by the Romanian Parliament.

Photo: WikiMedia Commons

Copy editor: bm

January 28, 2017

230 cm tall Szekler basketball player discovered on YouTube by Americans

444.hu writes that Róbert Bobroczky attracted the world’s attention as Europe’s tallest basketball player a few years ago at the age of 14, when he was already 226 centimetres tall. The boy, who was born in Arad and speaks Hungarian as his mother tongue, but is a Romanian citizen, was taken to Stella Azzurra, because he didn’t only seem to be extremely tall, but also very clever.

Bobby Bossman, the director of Ohio SPIRE Institute, watched a video of the 16-year-old boy on YouTube and looked him up on Facebook. They already made a contract on their first meeting.

Bossman thinks that Róbert works very hard, even though they haven’t started practicing with a ball yet, as they first have to better his health. They did all types of tests on him in Cleveland, and concluded that he can start playing in January. They first stretched him, which was followed by physiotherapy, where they tried to strengthen him: he still needs to work out, eat a lot of eggs, chicken and fish. Moreover, they are trying to better his speed, because the movement of a boy this tall is very limited in the beginning. Playing basketball will start after all this, which will also be part of the specific schedule, because such a unique player needs special attention.

Bobroczky’s father also used to play basketball, he is 216 centimetres tall, while his mother is also quite tall with her height of 183 centimetres.

You can read more about him here!

Photo: www.facebook.com/RóbertBobroczky

Copy editor: bm

December 19, 2016

Orbán congratulates RMDSZ, MPP on showing in Romanian election

Budapest (MTI) – Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has sent a letter of congratulation to Hunor Kelemen, leader of the ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ party, and to Zsolt Bíró, head of the Hungarian Civic Party (MPP), for their showing in Sunday’s Romanian election.

Citing Orbán’s letter, his press chief Bertalan Havasi said in a statement that the result was a factor of the unity of Romania’s Hungarian community. Cooperation by the two ethnic Hungarian parties served as an example to all Hungarians, he added.

Orbán expressed hope that the elected representatives would live up to the trust that Hungarian voters had invested in them. Forming strong interest representation will help the Hungarian community uphold their rights, the statement said.

Orbán assured the two leaders of the Hungarian government’s willingness to fully support their work in the future, Havasi added.

According to the exit polls, Romania’s ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ party in alliance with the MPP scored over 6 percent in the election, clearing the 5 percent threshold for parliamentary representation.

Photo: MTI

December 13, 2016

Ethnic Hungarian parties’ success in Romania election – Reactions

Budapest, December 12 (MTI) – Cooperation between ethnic Hungarian parties in Romania has proven successful; the Hungarian community will have a strong representation in the Bucharest parliament, deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén, head of Hungary’s co-ruling Christian Democrats, said late on Sunday. The alliance between the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ) and the Hungarian Civic Party (MPP) has been successful, Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party’s communications director said on Sunday.

In his statement, Semjén said that “this wonderful result has confirmed that in cardinal questions for the Hungarian community cooperation is a moral obligation and divisions must not be allowed”.

Fidesz: RMDSZ-MPP alliance proves successful in Romanian election

RMDSZ and MPP’s decision to cooperate in the election seems to have had a positive effect on voter turnout and mood, Balázs Hidvégi told MTI, commenting on the preliminary results.

The early data indicate that the national turnout rate will be around 38-40 percent, while turnout in most of the counties inhabited by ethnic Hungarians is expected to be higher, Hidvégi said.

He noted Harghita (Hargita) County, where turnout was 44 percent and Bihor (Bihar) and Salaj (Szilágy) Counties, each of which had registered turnout rates of 43 percent. In Covasna (Kovászna) County, voter turnout in municipalities inhabited by Hungarians greatly exceeded the turnout in cities and villages where most of the residents are Romanian, he added.

“This indicates that from a Hungarian point of view the result of this election will be better than the last one’s,” Hidvégi said, adding that since the size of Romania’s parliament has been reduced, the ethnic Hungarian parties can acquire a greater share of the seats.

Answering a question, Hidvégi said it was particularly important for Fidesz that ethnic Hungarians achieve greater representation in the Romanian parliament.

According to an early exit poll, the Social Democrat Party (PSD) won the elections with 46 percent of the votes. RMDSZ is projected to clear the 5 percent parliamentary threshold with 6 percent of the votes.

Photo: MTI

December 12, 2016

President highlights message of reconciliation in pilgrimage homily

NO TOLERANCE FOR BILINGUAL SIGNS

Budapest

SZEGED

Hódmezővásárhely

Carpathian basin

UPDATE

Date: Saturday 13-Sunday 14 May 2017 Venue: Albert Square, Manchester Ticket: Free entrance

Fidesz: RMDSZ-MPP alliance proves successful in Romanian election

Date: Saturday 13-Sunday 14 May 2017
Venue: Albert Square, Manchester
Ticket: Free entrance