Szeklerland

Hungary and Romania to continue talks about minority issues

Restarting the work of the Hungarian-Romanian mixed committee on minority issues will open a new chapter in bilateral ties, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday, after meeting Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu in Gyula, southeast Hungary.

Szijjártó said the mixed committee’s relaunch provided an opportunity to discuss and solve “problems that were earlier thought insurmountable”. The committee last met in 2011, he noted. He proposed a meeting as soon as possible to discuss important issues like the future of the Catholic secondary school in Targu Mures (Marosvasarhely).

Szijjártó and Aurescu also signed an agreement to

facilitate border traffic between the countries.

Two 24-hour crossings will also open between Elek and Graniceri (Ottlaka) as well as Dombegyhaz and Varias (Kisvarjas), he said.

The third motorway linking northern Hungary and northern Romania is expected to the opened in 2024, he said. Meanwhile, the railway line leading from Békéscsaba in southern Hungary to the Romanian border will be widened to improve traffic on the Budapest-Bucharest-Constanta line, he added.

The ministers also discussed energy security issues, Szijjártó said. Climate goals are important for both countries, but

they see nuclear energy and a temporary reliance on natural gas as indispensable to achieve them,

he said. “We will not allow Brussels to sideline those two forms of energy production,” Szijjártó said. The minister said that conflicts would be easier to solve if the two countries were linked in many ways. Last year’s challenges have cast light on the importance of international cooperation and goodneighbourly relations, he said.

Regarding minority rights, Szijjártó noted that Hungary had raised the

funding of Romanian ethnic communities five-fold in the past decade,

and that of the Romanian orthodox church seven-fold. The government also funds the education of 1,176 pupils in Romanian schools in Hungary, he said.

Aurescu also welcomed the restart of the mixed committee’s work of which he was a co-chair earlier. Through this structure, the dialogue will include experts from both countries, and kindle the hope of restarting and developing the ties between the two countries, he said.

Aurescu also expressed hope to see the launch of the Hungarian-Romanian Chamber of Commerce in the autumn as planned.

Trade volume between Hungary and Romania reached 9 billion euros in 2020, although investments are currently skewed towards Hungary investing in Romania,

he said.

Aurescu praised the Hungarian government’s support of quality Romanian-language education in Hungary, for ensuring the use of Romanian as a minority language, and for supporting the publishing of Romanian books and performers in Hungary.

April 28, 2021

Fidesz MEP: EC was leaving traditional ethnic minorities behind again

A Fidesz MEP on Monday lambasted the European Commission for rejecting the Minority SafePack citizen’s initiative that urged European Union protection for indigenous national minorities in the bloc, saying that the EC was “leaving traditional ethnic minorities behind again” despite nearly 1.5 million Europeans supporting the drive.

The EC last Friday issued a statement saying that a wide range of measures had been taken to address the issues outlined in the initiative since it was launched in 2013. “While no further legal acts are proposed, the full implementation of legislation and policies already in place provide a powerful arsenal to support the Initiative’s goals,” the statement said.

Kinga Gál said in a statement that the EC “did not take the initiative seriously, even though it is risking its own credibility and the trust of citizens.”

The initiative proposed to incorporate protection of national, ethnic and linguistic minorities into EU law.

“We have heard [EC Vice-President] Vera Jourova talk countless times about the rule of law and an approachable EU. But when that becomes achievable, the EC backs out and the protection of its citizens remains empty talk,” she said.

“Europe can stay strong only if it consists of strong nation states with strong identities. Failing to protect or giving up European cultural heritage will result in a failure to protect … European identity,” Gál said.

As head of the European Parliament’s working group on ethnic and linguistic minorities, she said

she would turn to the EC’s president and vice-president to address the matter.

Fidesz EP group elects Gál as leader to replace Szájer

székely szekler flag parliament Budapest

Read alsoThere is no Europe without citizens, says Jobbik MEP

January 18, 2021

There is no Europe without citizens, says Jobbik MEP

Remarks from Jobbik MEP Márton Gyöngyösi:

Ever since their establishment, EU institutions have often been subjects of many disputes about how overcomplicated and non-transparent the community and the operation of its organizations are for the people of Europe. These cumbersome processes, which are often formed by agreements between member states, simply alienate the EU from its own citizens. As a simple voter interested in politics, then as an MP of the Hungarian Parliament and now as a MEP, I have often had to come to the conclusion that many European citizens, despite all the colourful advertisements, campaigns and events, do not understand the European Union and, as a result, they can’t fully identify with it, which may have a long-term devastating effect on the EU – as we should already have understood from the rise of anti-Europe and populist politicians by now.

That’s why I was so disappointed by the European Commission’s rejection of the Minority SafePack citizens’ initiative. In an earlier post, I have already explained how important and worthy goals the initiators set with regard to the rights of European native ethnic minorities, in my opinion. It’s an utter shame these goals cannot be accomplished now. However, there is an even bigger shame: the damage to European democracy and European civil organizations.

Here’s the bottom-line message of the EC’s decision: you can organize yourselves all you want, you can write petitions all you want, you can even convince the EP, it won’t matter. What matters is what we decide behind closed doors.

Why do I use such grave words? I believe the Minority SafePack had a stronger legitimacy than any other initiative before. As you may remember, the European Commission refused to allow the collection of signatures at first, claiming a lack of competency in the matter. However, the organizers turned to the European Court, which decided that the matter did fall within the EC’s competency, so it cannot reject the collection of signatures. After that, the organizers collected 1.3 million statements of support from the citizens of seven EU member states. Since I have already launched a European Citizens’ Initiative before, I am fully aware what an enormous logistical effort and perseverance you need to succeed in such an undertaking. After a convincing support by citizens, the issue was referred to the European body with the highest legitimacy, i.e., the European Parliament, which voted for it with a vast majority.

What happened next was that the European Commission simply swept off the opinion of 1.3 million European citizens and the arguments of MEPs directly elected by the people of Europe.

The EC returned to its original position, namely, that it has no competency in the matter and that it has already done so much for Europe’s native minority recently, anyway.

The European Commission, a body consisting of political delegates instead of directly elected representatives, simply sent the message to the European Court that it has no jurisdiction over the Commission, while the 1.3 million signers and the MEPs are told that they are wrong and the problem they perceive does not exist. As a European citizen and a MEP who took an oath to represent the European people, I find this act deeply insulting.

Of course, this is not the first time for the European Commission to be in a difficult position with regard to its legitimacy. We can all remember how the lead candidate system was promised and then suddenly dropped when potentially having a too strong person as the head of the EC became inconvenient for the nation-state political elites. The disappointment is now equally painful for all European citizens, and not just those who worked so hard for years to promote the citizens’ initiative and now it seems to be all for next to nothing.

They were promised a more democratic Europe with a more effective citizen participation, and now they are left at the finish line with nothing but the cynical smiles of politicians never elected by anyone.

I know that this event will not stop European institutions from advertising themselves in colourful brochures while constantly complaining about how populist politicians endanger European integration because the people fail to understand or identify with the European Union. These voices will sound extremely hypocritical, especially if the European Union cuts down citizens’ initiatives without any second thought while lecturing them about what they actually need.

That’s not the kind of Europe I work for as a MEP. Of course, economic cooperation and member state agreements are very important too, but I think it will be difficult to build a Europe without a more direct citizen participation…

Read alsoJobbik MEP Gyöngyösi: Minority SafePack – one step closer to a more democratic and fair Europe

January 17, 2021

Stronger RMDSZ presence in Romania parliament would help bilateral ties, says Hungarian FM in Szeklerland

Hungary’s relationship with Romania would benefit from the ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ party increasing its presence in the Romanian parliament, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Targu Mures (Marosvásárhely) on Wednesday.

At a joint press conference with RMDSZ leader Hunor Kelemen, Szijjártó said he was not in Transylvania to meddle in Romania’s internal affairs, noting that Hungary was “careful to make sure that this doesn’t happen”. Hungary will respect the outcome of Romania’s elections, the minister said.

Szijjártó urged ethnic Hungarians to participate in Sunday’s elections, emphasising that “this is about the future of their community”. The stronger the Hungarian representation in Bucharest will be, the louder Hungarians’ voices will be when it comes to deciding on the future, he said.

Hungary has pragmatic reasons for wanting close relations with Romania, he said, noting that the neighbouring country was Hungary’s fourth most important export market.

Hungary exports more than 5.5 billion euros worth of goods and services to Romania each year, Szijjártó said.

The minister said good relations between Hungary and Romania were also good for Hungarians living in Romania and Romanians in Hungary.

“We believe that a stronger presence by the ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ party in the Romanian parliament would benefit bilateral cooperation,” Szijjártó said.

The minister said RMDSZ had told the Hungarian government that the best way it could help ethnic Hungarians was by offering economic support, as it benefits both the community and the region as a whole.

“I’d like to think that my Romanian colleagues also believe that an economically more prosperous Transylvanian Szekler Hungarian community is in Romania’s interest as much as it is in Hungary’s,” he said.

Asked to comment on the Romanian government’s decision to make economic support to ethnic Hungarians conditional on a written agreement between the two countries, Szijjártó said the government had paid close attention when devising the scheme to ensure that it is compatible with international, European and Romanian law. “So I can safely say that the programme is in line with Romanian, European and international law,” the minister said. “It’ll create jobs here, generate tax revenue for the budget and contribute to economic growth here.”

Read alsoRomania declares Trianon Day a national holiday!

Kelemen said he and the foreign minister had spent the day inspecting investment projects supported by the Hungarian government. They also laid a wreath at a recently inaugurated statue of Transylvanian Prince Gabriel Bethlen, he said.

Kelemen thanked Hungary’s ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance for their support and urged ethnic Hungarians to go to the polls this weekend, saying that there were no health risks involved in doing so.

Speaking about Hungary’s economic development scheme geared towards Transylvania earlier, Szijjártó said

the Hungarian government has disbursed some 70 billion forints (EUR 195.7m) among 6,000 local businesses, generating 135 billion forints’ worth of investments. This year, the government contributed 20 billion forints to 53 major agricultural investments worth a combined 40 billion forints, Szijjártó said.

Seeing the scheme’s success, the government has decided to disburse another 6.5 billion forints, he said, adding that more than 50 agricultural manufacturing companies have applied for support.

Read alsoSuperfast trains to connect Budapest with Warsaw and Cluj Napoca?

December 2, 2020

PM’s Office urges ethnic Hungarians to participate in Romania elections

Gergely Gulyás, the prime minister’s chief of staff, on Sunday urged ethnic Hungarians living in Romania to vote in the country’s general election next week.

Addressing a joint press conference with Botond Csoma, an MP candidate of Romania’s ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ party, in Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvar), Gulyás emphasised the importance of securing the strongest possible representation for the ethnic Hungarian community in the Romanian parliament.

“If RMDSZ will have many parliamentary seats it will be able to represent the interests of the Hungarian national minority in the issues that concern them,” Gulyás said. “That’s why it’s important to have a high turnout and that every Hungarian considers this election their own.”

Gulyás noted that the Hungarian community fell short of a second parliamentary seat by just over 100 votes four years ago. “This example illustrates just how much every vote counts,” he said.

Gulyás said it was up to Transylvania’s Hungarian community to make decisions for itself, which the Hungarian government would then support. He said RMDSZ had a clear vision for the next four years as well as the ability to represent the interests of the Hungarian community.

In response to a question, Gulyás said the reason why the Hungarian government wanted RMDSZ to be a part of the next Romanian government was because this would be beneficial to Transylvania’s Hungarian community.

Concerning Romania’s declaration of June 4, the day the treaty was signed, as a national holiday, the PM’s chief of staff said Hungary’s interests lay in having strong and successful neighbours. Gulyás said only “weak countries” declared anniversaries that are painful to a section of their citizens holidays.

“To us this is not only an unfriendly gesture but it also proves that Romania’s current leadership considers the Hungarian community living here second class citizens,” Gulyás said. “Our interests lie in a strong and confident Romania; one that respects the national minority, the individual and community rights of Hungarians living here and sees them the way we see minorities living in our country: as assets to the country’s economy and cultural diversity.”

Csoma said all the conditions were in place for RMDSZ and the Hungarian community to secure strong representation in parliament in the election.

Read alsoPM’s Office urges ethnic Hungarians to participate in Romania elections

November 29, 2020

Hungarians everywhere – Prince Charles talked proudly about his Hungarian ancestors – VIDEO

Prince Charles narrated a documentary movie promoting Romania for Romanians but did not mention Hungarians at all. That is why some Transylvanian Hungarians, including László Tőkés, wrote letters to him to which he replied in a video. Check out the details below.

According to Index, Charlie Ottley, a British journalist, made a documentary movie promoting Romania which premiered this summer. Prince Charles narrated the film and showed why it is worth visiting Romania for everybody. He talked about the history, culture, and gastronomy of the country to encourage Romanians to stay there for the holidays.

He also said that he was a descendant of Vlad Tepes (1428-1477), known to the world as Dracula. He said that because of the script because, in reality, he is very proud of his Hungarian ancestors who were counts in Transylvania, so he is not linked to the former ruler of Wallachia.

However, the five-minute-long movie caused a storm in the Hungarian community of Transylvania because the Prince of Wales did not mention the Hungarians, Saxons, Szeklers living in Romania. Even László Tőkés wrote a letter to His Royal Highness on the issue. Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania said that nobody should criticise the prince since he

gave a lot of money for the restoration of many Transylvanian castles.

However, the Prince of Wales replied in a video made to celebrate the 140th anniversary of the British-Romanian diplomatic relations. In the video, he says that he had already visited Transylvania many times, and he met a lot of people there working hard to

strengthen the ties between the two nations.

He added that he takes “particular pride in the way that my Prince’s foundation has worked with Romanian partners to protect and promote different aspects of Romania’s rich heritage whilst creating sustainable livelihoods for all people.”

He stated that “as the United Kingdom, Romania is a country of such remarkable diversity with a precious tapestry of cultures, religions, languages, and people. That Szeklers, Transylvanian Saxons, Danube Swabians, Jews, Turks, Tatars together with Hungarians, Romas, Lipovans, and more than a dozen other ethnicities should live side by side with Romanian speakers is, it seems to me, such unique and significant feature of Romania’s national life.”

He also said that “there are ties which are particular personal resilience for me not least because of cherishing family connections through

my great-grandmother Queen Mary to my ancestor Countess Rhédey of Erdőszentgyörgy,

in that part of Transylvania where the Szeklers live.”

He concluded that even though the coronavirus epidemic prevented him from his regular yearly visit of Transylvania, he will return as soon as possible.

November 28, 2020

The Hungarian government supports the Szeklers’ fight in Romania for autonomy!

If the Szekler people and their leaders commit themselves in full to a fight for autonomy, they can count on the Hungarian government’s support, the state secretary for Hungarians across the border said in Siculeni (Mádéfalva), in central Romania, on Sunday.

Speaking at the end of a mass marking the Day of Szekler Autonomy, observed on the last Sunday of October, Árpád János Potápi said that unlike in 1956, the fight for freedom today had to be waged with petitions, rather than weapons. The state secretary urged those in attendance to gather as many people as they could to sign the European citizens’ initiative on

protecting national regions launched by the Szekler National Council.

The European Citizens’ Initiative for the Equality of the Regions and Sustainability of the Regional Cultures, he noted, had attracted more than one million signatures before the original deadline of May 7, but the campaign had failed to collect the required minimum number of signatures from seven European Union member states. With the deadline for collecting signatures extended until November 7, the goal is gather the required level of support in countries besides Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, he said.

Potápi added that Szeklerland would not gain autonomy until its people commit to doing everything in their power to achieve it. The Szekler National Council designated the last Sunday of October as the Day of Szekler Autonomy in 2015.

October 25, 2020

The only Hungarian-founded congregation to build a new monastery in Transylvania – PHOTOS, VIDEO

Hungary cloister Transylvania Romania Pauline

The only order founded by a Hungarian is the Order of St. Paul the Hermit, also known as Pauline Fathers, which is a monastic order of the Roman Catholic Church. Now, they decided to found a new monastery in Szeklerland (Romania), in Hargitafürdő, a charming holiday village surrounded by fir forests and beautiful mountains.

According to Index, never has any of the different monastic orders built a cloister in Szeklerland. Now, the Pauline monks decided to build one commemorating the 750th anniversary of their foundation. The building will be ready in December 2021, and it will be open not only for tourists but also for people who would like to join the Pauline fathers.

Botond Bátor, who will be a permanent resident of the new cloister built 1,400 metres high in the Hargita Mountain, told Index that the life of a monk is not too spectacular. However,

they offer silence for the mind and peace for the body in the ever-accelerating work, which can be useful for everybody.

Furthermore, they will show how a monk lives nowadays.

As we reported before, the Order of St. Paul the Hermit was founded in 1215 in Hungary. The founder of the Order was Blessed Eusebius, Canon of Esztergom. The members of the Order were hermits who lived in caves in Hungary. The monastic order

spread throughout the countries of Hungary, Poland, Croatia, Austria, and Bavaria.

After a while, the government ordered the closing of many monasteries. However, they persevered in Poland, where they spread devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and also at the main monastery in Czestochowa, where they continue to reside. The order’s Hungarian centre is in Pécs, but a well-known Pauline place is the Sziklatemplom as well.

Interestingly, the Pauline monks had two centres in Transylvania in the Middle Ages: Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia) and Nagyvárad (Oradea). At the end of the 18th century, Joseph II (1780-1790) dissolved the order, and the Pauline monks could not return for more than 200 years. That changed in 2014 when they opened a house in Hargitafürdő. They would like to develop that building into a monastic centre now.

Pauline monks. Photo: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Corpus_Christ_at_Prima_Porta.jpg

Interestingly, it is hard to find architects who can build cloisters in 2020. That is why, for example, Father Botond visited cloisters in Switzerland to draw inspiration. They would like to create a building that does not harm its environment but can become a part of it. Therefore, for example,

they will replant trees, and they will be minimalists in creating the spaces of the new monastery as well.

Father Botond added that they would offer their prayers for the unity and ascension of the Hungarian nation.

October 10, 2020

Is there a future for the Hungarians living in Romania?

An interesting article appeared on 24.hu about the Hungarians living in Romania, but outside Transylvania. During the difficult years of Communism, many Hungarian intellectuals had to leave Transylvania to work in other parts of Romania, far from their families and the Hungarian communities hoping that they will assimilate easier. Today, Hungarians move to Bucharest to get higher salaries, but their assimilation did not stop.

In 2020 it was the 100th anniversary of the Peace Treaty of Trianon when the Great Powers gave 2/3rd of Hungary’s former territories and 1/3rd of the Hungarians to neighbouring Romania, Serbia and Czechoslovakia. These states tried and try even today to make these people leave their ancestor’s land or assimilate them with more or less success. Therefore, Romania “offered” jobs for Hungarian intellectuals outside Transylvania for decades to separate them from the Hungarian communities. That is why, for example,

the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania could get more than 20 thousand votes outside Transylvania in 2016, 3,108 of them in Bucharest, the capital of Romania.

Richárd Buday, leader of the Petőfi Community Centre in Bucharest said that Hungarians should not come to the Romanian capital, because it is a melting pot of different ethnicities. He is the offspring of a Hungarian family that has been living in Bucharest for five generations and one of the leaders of the local Hungarian community.

The Hungarian community living in Bucharest is very colourful from the doctors to the housekeepers, and most of them came to get higher salaries after 1989. However, since it is

much easier to assimilate than to preserve the national identity

there are many Hungarians who no longer speak their mother tongue even though they did so ten years ago. Mr Buday said that he could be happy if the Hungarian community there grows. It happens that Hungarian parents talk to their children in Romanian in Bucharest and they do not send them into the only Hungarian school in the capital. Mr Buday added that the situation of the Hungarian communities in Romania

worsened in the last 100 years and even Fidesz and PM Viktor Orbán could not help that.

Furthermore, Bucharest has been thinking about Transylvania as one of its colonies since Trianon.

Interestingly, the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania received a lot of votes in the 2019 European Parliament elections for which the National Anticorruption Directorate started to investigate, but they did not find anything.

Béla Farkas, a geographist living in Râmnicu Vâlcea, moved from Transylvania after the university and says that approximately 300 Hungarians live in his county. He says that some of the Hungarians went back to Transylvania after the fall of Communism. Those who remained tried to hide that they were Hungarians some time ago or are too old to preserve the Hungarian community. Only 30-50 people take part in the Hungarian masses in the local Calvinist church. He added that there was no tension between the different nationalities of the city.

Mr Farkas says that some Hungarians show their original identity only in the voting booth and support the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania.

András Király, a former secretary for education in Romania, said that Hungarian schools are rare outside Transylvania, there is one in Bucharest and a few in Moldavia where the Csangos live. They are a Hungarian ethnographic group of Roman Catholic faith living mostly in the Romanian region of Moldavia, especially in Bacău County. Their traditional language, Csango, an old Hungarian dialect, is currently used by only a minority of the Csango population group. However, the Roman Catholic diocese of Iași forbids to hold religion classes in Hungarian at schools so children can hear Hungarian only during the Hungarian language classes. These are not compulsory but optional in the region thanks to the unsupportive attitude of the Romanian education system.

October 8, 2020

Miniature of Hungarian Parliament in the middle of Romania – PHOTOS

The maker of this beautiful miniature is not an artist by profession. He is Imre Mezei, a simple man who works in the construction industry and who has been blessed with skilful hands and patience. Normally, he is working as a carpenter and a mason, but in his free time, he creates stunning replicas.

According to 24, he has been working on his ‘parliament project’ for more than half a year and has put in thousands of hours of work. The master of this piece of art is from the Transylvanian Gyergyóditró, and the metal replica adorns his backyard. Many people from Transylvania were part of Hungary before the Treaty of Trianon. According to the census of 1910, 1.66 million Hungarians became part of Romania from one day to the next. Since then, many people living there still consider themselves Hungarians. In fact, in 2002, 1.4 million people said they were Hungarians.

Parliament Parlament Top — Photos: Facebook / Imre Mezei

Parliament Parlament Rainbow — Photos: Facebook / Imre Mezei

Liget wrote that in order for Imre Mezei to be able to work on his dream project, he only undertook smaller jobs this year. Normally he would work as a mason or carpenter, but he wanted to chase his dream. As he said to the news portal: “I worked in the construction industry, but I have become sick and tired of them treating me like an object like I did not matter. So I quit and focused on miniature-building. In order to finish up the replica of the Hungarian Parliament, I stopped working. Before that, I would practice my hobby after work”.

Imre Mezei made his first miniatures about twenty years ago. He made some tiny wooden houses that are now scattered in different corners of his backyard.

He said that he inherited his skills from his father, who made table lamps in the shape of tiny houses. His works got more serious when three years ago, he built the replica of one of the churches in Gyergyóditró. This was made out of steel as he designed it to be an adornment outside.

Parliament Parlament Hungarian — Photos: Facebook / Imre Mezei

Parliament Parlament Night — Photos: Facebook / Imre Mezei

About eight months ago, he started his latest project, the miniature of the Hungarian Parliament. The miniature itself took six months to build, but Imre had to spend two months figuring out a solution to hold the ‘gigantic’ replica. As it is made of steel sheets, it weighs around 200 kg, and as miniatures go, it is quite sizeable.

He told Liget that although it has a place now, it is not yet finished. There are some areas he wants to touch up on, and he also wants to make a roof over it to protect it from the elements. He cut, filed, welded, and painted every bit himself, only using traditional hand tools, and he admitted that it was not easy. He used a plethora of photos and pictures to be able to build this piece of architecture and even made a temporary tent to be able to work on it during the winter.

Other Creations Church — Photos: Facebook / Imre Mezei

Other Creations Bridge — Photos: Facebook / Imre Mezei

The structure has around 700 tiny windows and is a whopping 200 kg.

The backyard of Imre Mezei became the tourist attraction of Gyergyószék as people come to see his wonderful creation not only from his own and nearby towns but even from much farther away. Although Imre Mezei is very proud of his work, he is already planning his next project; he would like to make a replica of the Vajdahunyad Castle in today’s Romania. He admires these architectural wonders and tries to recreate them on a smaller scale.

Read alsoThe mesmerising floors of Budapest’s old buildings – PHOTOS

Read alsoAn ancient element of Hungarian folklore: the tulip motif

Read alsoExplore the map of Budapest’s defining contemporary architectural works

September 14, 2020

Marriage, sex and intimacy in the 19th century Hungary

What are your first thoughts when it comes to the old traditions of dating, love and sex life? Back in the day, our great grandfathers and grandmothers had to follow completely different rules and standards in the Hungarian countryside. In villages, dating was very different from what happened in bigger towns and cities. Men and women had to follow strict rules when it came to physical relationships, and sometimes they did not marry from the heart.

Read alsoPublic baths in the Middle Ages – The former centres of sexual life

NLC reported that back in the day women’s greatest value was their virginity, which meant that men had to marry them if they wanted to spend a night together. Moreover, it was not fashionable to marry from the heart as families’ number one obligation was to have their children get married to start a family. Women from wealthier families, as a result, frequently married at a very young age because their parents chose their fiancé in advance, and this was also the case in less wealthy families. No wonder, there are that many sad Hungarian folk songs about love.

Back in the day, there were no clubs, so men met women at family celebrations, balls, and while visiting houses where the head of the family had one or more daughters. When a man liked a woman, it was allowed for him to visit her once a week on the same day. They were always welcomed in the garden, because to enter the house, men needed to have serious intentions.

Intimacy did not exist; they met while the family was also there. They played cards, board games and could only spend some time alone when they said goodbye. Still, young people had a chance to meet at balls and in distinctive buildings called fonóház. Here it was allowed to dance, to laugh and to find out whether they liked each other. Men did not give women flowers and chocolate but useful things women could use around the house while thinking about them. If they wanted to get married, after the woman’s father, her mother had to decide.

Hungary, Székler, folk — *Photo: Wikimedia Commons*

Although the German ethnicity living in Hungary and also the Széklers had strict rules regarding sex, Hungarian people who lived on the Great Plain frequently had affairs with each other before getting married; moreover, there were many secret lovers. In some bigger villages, even brothels were operated from the beginning of the 1800s.

In many cases, though men needed to wait for their first sexual experience until their first marriage without regard to if it was a virgin or a widowed woman they married. In Hungarian villages, men were the head of the family and also the house, which meant that they were even allowed to hurt women if they misbehaved physically. The old society approved this kind of behaviour and considered it a healthy way of solving conflicts inside marriage. Moreover, women were not allowed to express their love, not their sexual fantasies, which means they were only free in their imagination.

Sex was all about having children, and if a woman liked the physical contact, it was not allowed to talk about it; otherwise, other members of the society despised her. Also, sex, hygiene and erotica were tabus in families, and even the first menstruation came as a surprise to many girls.

Sopron, folk, Hungary — *Photo: Wikimedia Commons József Bikkessy Heinbucher*

In the 19th century, many children were born, which had terrible effects on the bodies of women. To keep women away from body aches and to avoid more children in villages, parents simply forbid the married couple to sleep together. Breaking up a marriage was the most severe and dreadful thing a married couple could do, and on many occasions, it was also punished. Luckily, the number of divorces in villages was extremely low as couples did everything they could to keep the marriage and the family together.

Featured image: Wikimedia Commons by Mihály Munkácsy

Szekler, family, old, black, traditional

Read alsoThe history and traditions of the Hungarian subgroup: the Szeklers

August 1, 2020

Renée Zellweger to be involved in the European Citizens’ Initiative?

Renée Zellweger’s mother, Kjellfrid Irene is Norwegian of Kven and Sámi descent. Therefore, supporters have reached out to her, asking her to become involved in the European Citizens’ Initiative on protecting national regions.

The European Citizens’ Initiative on protecting national regions launched on May 7 last year, and it aims to ensure that the EU takes into consideration the ethnic characteristics of regions when distributing cohesion funds.

The initiative for the Equality of the Regions and Sustainability of the Regional Cultures aims to convince the European Commission to create a cohesion policy that pays special attention to regions with national, ethnic, cultural, religious or linguistic characteristics that are different from those of the surrounding regions.

The proposal has symbolic weight, too, given the declaration of the year of national cohesion 100 years after the signing of the Trianon Peace Treaty. The proposed resolution states that the deprivations of such regions, including geographical areas without administrative powers, can be addressed by ensuring equal access to structural funds and other EU funds, resources, and programmes while promoting their regional identity.

One million signatures were collected by the end of May. However, the compulsory limit was reached only in three countries: Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. They would need the statutory limit in another four countries at least. Luckily, the European Union approved a later deadline for the petition due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, and they can collect signatures until 7 November.

Read alsoSzekler Council collects 1 million signatures for ethno-regions

The organisation is now trying to involve Renée Zellweger, two-time Oscar-winning American actress and producer in the signature drive, campaign manager László Pesty told Magyar Nemzet.

Hungarians residing in Sweden are fighting for the Szekler cause, and they have contacted the leaders of the local Sami minority groups. The idea to involve Renée Zellweger in the signature drive came up during one of their meetings. Renée Zellweger’s mother, Kjellfrid Iren has Sami origins, hence the idea to get her involved. Her involvement could be a very crucial step in promoting the cause across Europe, which has been quite challenging so far.

According to the SZNT, the legitimacy of the initiative would be greatly increased if millions of more signatures were collected, and the territorial threshold reached in at least 10-15 countries (instead of the officially needed 7).

Pesty told during a previous interview that they are starting to collect signatures in seven new countries: Croatia, Slovenia, Spain, Lithuania, Sweden, Estonia, and Latvia. He hopes to gain people’s support; they made campaign brochures in their native languages.

The petition can be accessed HERE.

July 29, 2020

Bucharest has seen Transylvania as a “colony” for years

Transylvania, Romania, landscape, church, countryside

In the last one hundred years, the situation and status of Transylvania and its Hungarian residents encountered many difficulties, and their relationship with Romania started to go in the wrong direction. Ever since the Treaty of Trianon, Bucharest has been trying to get the region’s natural supplies, destroy its culture, and shape the area to their expectations.

Read alsoThe top ten attractions in Transylvania everyone should see – PHOTOS

24 reported that Hungarian people of Romania hoped that after Trianon, Transylvania would be the location and starting point of the modernisation of the country, but their belief turned into disappointment as the government sees the region only as a “colony”. Since the most tragic day of Hungarian history, the Romanian government – as many Hungarians reported – has been trying to get all the natural resources and benefits of Transylvania and make them the main asset of Romania in its political and economic development.

The Romanian government has been trying to develop their regions outside of Transylvania, with no success. To make progress, the government started to demolish Transylvania’s cultural and economic heritage.

Romania should view the Hungarian community as a resource, says FM Szijjártó in Bucharest

This means that all the mines and natural resources of Transylvania have been taken into the possession of the Romanian government. Romania is a unique country regarding its geography as the capital is the centre of the country only when it comes to geographical and political facts. Transylvania is still the biggest and most powerful region in Romania, and there is hardly any Transylvanian citizen who would travel to Bucharest in joy only for one day. This might be the reason why the government tries to “steal” the values of the region while still complaining.

For example, Bucharest still does not have any motorways that connect the Romanian capital with other EU capitals, but Transylvania has many to western regions.

The government still has no intention of developing Transylvania’s transportation or establishing more bus routes and airports in the region, and despite the area’s beautiful mountainous regions, major winter sports events still do not exist in Transylvania as the government does not build sports facilities. But the region has every necessary ingredient for a modern and well-organised winter sports event.

Another problem is related to autonomy as it has been reported that only Székler autonomy is accepted in the country while other Hungarians living on the outskirts of Transylvania are forgotten.

Székler autonomy

June 26, 2020

Hungary, Romania to lift quarantine requirement for each other’s citizens

From Wednesday, Hungarian and Romanian nationals will be allowed to cross each other’s borders without being required to go into quarantine, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook.

The ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ party has been urging the Hungarian government to reach a deal with Bucharest on lifting the requirement for Hungarians and Romanians to undergo quarantine after crossing each other’s borders,

Szijjártó said in a video message.

Talks on the matter were speeded up and an agreement was reached, the minister said.

He thanked RMDSZ and its leader, Hunor Kelemen, for keeping the issue on the agenda.

Romania further relaxes restrictions, but new infections show rising trend

Baile Tusnad summer university set to be cancelled amid restrictions

The Bálványos Summer University and Student Camp in Baile Tusnad (Tusnádfürdő), in central Romania, looks set to be cancelled this year amid the situation around the novel coronavirus epidemic,

according to reports by commercial HírTV.

The event, which traditionally features a keynote address by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and celebrated its 30th anniversary last year, is next expected to be organised in 2021, HírTV’s website said.

The event provides a forum for ethnic Hungarians to discuss political, economic, social and cultural issues with each other as well as the many visitors from the Carpathian Basin, the Hungarian government and neighbouring countries.

Read alsoDid this Hungarian man leave Romania because of police harassment?

June 16, 2020

Did this Hungarian man leave Romania because of police harassment?

Romanian police officers abused their power in Székelyudvarhely (Odorheiu Secuiesc) – Ferenc Bartalis, the former owner of a local car wash, says. He wrote his story on Facebook and published a video about what happened for which the police is now investigating. He states that one of the police officers said that he should speak in Romanian since he lives in Romania and gave the owner a 2,000 EUR fine because of which he had to leave the country to work abroad.

According to maszol.ro, the 46-year-old Ferenc Bartalis started his car wash in 2006 in Székelyudvarhely (Hargita county). However, because of the curfew implemented by the Romanian authorities, after the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic, they did not have work for weeks. Therefore, all their reserves melted shortly.

Mr Bartalis kept his car wash open even during the epidemic since one or two cars per day showed up even then. That was not enough to have a profit but allowed him and his employees, at least, to buy food. One day, two police officers showed up and wanted to check the documents of his employees. Mr Bartalis gave the documents to the officers. After that, one of them started to complain and asked his two employees why the documents are not filled out correctly. Since she was talking in Romanian none of them understood her, so the officer changed to Hungarian. Hereafter Mr Bartalis jokingly said that she should have started with that language if she speaks it. And

this was the point when all hell broke loose.

The other officer shouted at him that since they live in Romania, they should speak Romanian. Mr Bartalis said that they would not like to continue their talk and asked them to leave. They did so but returned shortly with three cars to conduct a financial audit. They checked everything and finally imposed a 2,000 EUR fine because he did not have a sign in his car wash warning about the importance of distance keeping.

Therefore, he had to leave Romania, and now he is working abroad. He took a video about what the police did and posted it on Facebook where he wrote his version of the story explained above. He got hundreds of comments,

even vulgar ones so he later deleted it.

However, local police started to investigate the issue because of insulting a public official and hate crime. They are summoning people who wrote comments under the video, and they wanted to ask questions even from Mr Bartalis, who was summoned as a witness.

The spokesman of the Hargita county police, Gheorghe Filip, denied Mr Bartalis’s version of the story highlighting that none of the police officers said that they should speak Romanian in Romania. Furthermore, he added that

both officers were Hungarian.

June 8, 2020

European Commission proposes 6 month expansion for Szekler Council minority petition

The European Commission on Wednesday proposed that the deadline for the Szekler Council’s petition, aimed at ensuring European Union protection for ethnic regions across the bloc, be pushed out by six months, Justice Minister Judit Varga said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

The petition had already garnered 1 million signatures for the drive, but the coronavirus outbreak hindered collection of the required number in other member states, Varga noted. “Next to the organisers, I also turned to the Commission and asked for an extension … The Commission’s proposal would make it possible for further European citizens to support the initiative,” Varga said.

The European Parliament and Council will also have to approve the extension.

Lóránt Vincze, MEP of Romania’s ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ party, said that

the EC’s approval came “slightly late” but added that it was “fair”.

Vincze, who is the European Parliament’s rapporteur for civil initiatives, said he would work in Brussels to ensure that the EC proposal is passed as soon as possible, adding that the initiative would “promote participatory democracy and the interests of Europe’s citizens”.

Read alsoNATO-allies: Romania made the saddest day of the Hungarians a national holiday!

May 20, 2020

Parliament committee condemns Romanian president’s remarks on Hungarian minority

Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning recent “anti-minority” remarks by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis about his country’s Hungarian community and affirming its commitment to the cause of autonomy for Szekler Land.

Recent remarks by Iohannis about his Romania’s Hungarian community could be used to “incite hatred”, foreign ministry state secretary Levente Magyar said.

Magyar noted that Iohannis had recently accused Romania’s Social Democrats, who hold the majority of seats in parliament, of “fighting to hand over Transylvania to the Hungarians” as the Romanian government “fights a heroic battle” against the coronavirus epidemic.

The state secretary said

the Romanian president had branded anyone engaging in talks with the Hungarians who did not firmly reject Hungarian causes a “traitor”.

Magyar said the president’s comments amounted to more than just domestic political rhetoric, adding that they could have “far-reaching consequences”.

He said

it was a “Romanian tradition” to “play the Hungarian card whenever there’s trouble in order to divert the public’s attention from the real problems”.

Hungary wants to develop its ties with Romania, Magyar said, adding that the government will continue to aid the Hungarian community and protect it from “all forms of attacks”.

Answering a question, Magyar called it “disgraceful” that the Council of Europe was staying silent on the matter.

Zsolt Németh, the Fidesz head of the committee, said the Romanian foreign affairs committee was also expected to discuss the matter next week. He said Romania was “battling two viruses at the same time”, namely the novel coronavirus and “the old virus of chauvinism”.

Read alsoSzekler Council collects 1 million signatures for ethno-regions

May 11, 2020

Szekler Council collects 1 million signatures for ethno-regions

Romania’s Szekler National Council has managed to collect one million signatures by Wednesday night to support their petition aimed at ensuring European Union protection for ethnic regions across the community, the initiative’s campaign chief told public broadcaster M1.

László Pesty said, however, that further signatures were needed from four other countries to meet criteria under which the European Parliament puts the petition on its agenda.

Pesty also said that the drive would go on in Hungary, too, until the official deadline at midnight on Thursday because “many people may have made mistakes when signing or signed twice” and those signatures would not count.

The initiative, launched on May 7 last year, aims to ensure that the EU takes into consideration ethnic characteristics of regions when distributing cohesion funds.

The EP will discuss and vote on the matter if the proponents collect at least one million signatures, and in one fourth of the community — in seven countries each — the number of collected signatures is at least 750 times the number of that country’s delegates to the EP.

Read alsoHungarian parliament supports Szekler National Council’s European initiative on national regions

Later on Thursday, Justice Minister Judit Varga called on the European Commission to grant the organisers’ plea to extend the deadline in view of the novel coronavirus outbreak, which hindered them in collecting the signatures in seven different member states.

Varga noted in a Facebook post that the council had won a lawsuit against the EC, which had “refused to green-light” the initiative.

Granting the extension “may make good on [the EC] dragging its foot on the matter for years”, she said.

May 7, 2020