Post by Bozur on Feb 17, 2005 18:24:36 GMT -5
Romania in ethnic tiff
BUCHAREST (AFP) - Romania’s new government yesterday sparked protests from nationalists by appointing members of the large ethnic Hungarian minority to posts of governors in three local regions.
Incoming Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu said that the new governors of the Covasna, Bistrita Nasaud and Maramures regional authorities, all home to large Magyar or ethnic Hungarian populations, would be members of the Hungarian community.
However some politicians from the regions involved have said that the appointments could threaten Romania’s territorial integrity by encouraging hopes for secession among some Magyars. There have also been charges that the government was discriminating against ethnic Romanians.
“The appointment of a Magyar-origin governor in Covasna is the result of the political changes seen in recent years, and shows that we do not have any taboos as regards nationality,” Tariceanu said.
“The governor of Covasna is bound by Romanian laws. If he does not respect those laws, he will have to pay for it, as anyone else would,” he added.
Officials from Covasna who are members of Tariceanu’s own Justice and Truth Party, and also members of the Humanist Party, a government ally, wrote early this week to President Traian Basescu to ask him to oppose the appointments.
The politicians claimed that the move would encourage the Magyar Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR), which is also a member of the coalition, to “impose territorial autonomy on ethnic grounds” in regions with very large Magyar populations.
Romania’s Magyar community makes up some 7 percent of the population, or 1.4 million people.
www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/news/content.asp?aid=51507
BUCHAREST (AFP) - Romania’s new government yesterday sparked protests from nationalists by appointing members of the large ethnic Hungarian minority to posts of governors in three local regions.
Incoming Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu said that the new governors of the Covasna, Bistrita Nasaud and Maramures regional authorities, all home to large Magyar or ethnic Hungarian populations, would be members of the Hungarian community.
However some politicians from the regions involved have said that the appointments could threaten Romania’s territorial integrity by encouraging hopes for secession among some Magyars. There have also been charges that the government was discriminating against ethnic Romanians.
“The appointment of a Magyar-origin governor in Covasna is the result of the political changes seen in recent years, and shows that we do not have any taboos as regards nationality,” Tariceanu said.
“The governor of Covasna is bound by Romanian laws. If he does not respect those laws, he will have to pay for it, as anyone else would,” he added.
Officials from Covasna who are members of Tariceanu’s own Justice and Truth Party, and also members of the Humanist Party, a government ally, wrote early this week to President Traian Basescu to ask him to oppose the appointments.
The politicians claimed that the move would encourage the Magyar Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR), which is also a member of the coalition, to “impose territorial autonomy on ethnic grounds” in regions with very large Magyar populations.
Romania’s Magyar community makes up some 7 percent of the population, or 1.4 million people.
www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/news/content.asp?aid=51507