Paramedic in Transylvania Demanded Hungarian Family to Speak Romanian

A shocking incident happened in Cluj-Napoca recently, reported Szabadság.ro. A female relative of a Hungarian family called an ambulance for an elderly person feeling unwell, and in the private home, the Romanian paramedic demanded that the relative should not speak Hungarian but Romanian to calm the man, who was suspected of having a stroke.

The incident happened on February 2 in Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár, Romania, formerly part of Hungary), where a woman had to call an ambulance because her mother’s friend was feeling very unwell. The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, gave a detailed account of the incident to the Szabadság newspaper. She explained that the 68-year-old man had symptoms of stroke and when the ambulance arrived, she tried to calm him down in his mother tongue, Hungarian. “It was clear that I would only talk to him, calm him down. The paramedic, who was of Romanian nationality, immediately asked me to speak Romanian. Given the situation, I did not want to react, I let him do his job.”

The lady also reported that the paramedic demanded in an irritated tone to use Romanian even when she was explaining in their mother tongue, i.e. Hungarian, what was happening to the man, as she was very worried about his health.

“The doctor also spoke to me in a very irritated way. At this point I indicated to him that we were not having a conversation about medical care, but that I was simply explaining the situation to my mother in her mother tongue so that she could understand better. The man demanded that the explanation be given in Romanian.”

Finally, she wrote a letter of complaint to the Cluj County Ambulance Service, stating that the paramedic’s behavior and reaction were unacceptable from a human, socio-cultural, and legal point of view. “I ask that measures be taken to ensure that such cases are prevented in a city where many Hungarian-speaking pensioners live, as well as other national minorities such as Roma or migrant workers from Pakistan, India or even war refugees from Ukraine.”

Fortunately, the man is now feeling better. However, the lady who reported the incident finds it very outrageous, even shocking, especially because the public servant’s outburst was made in the presence of an elderly man in distress, in need of urgent medical care, with a suspected stroke, and a pensioner lady (her mother) with severe hearing loss.

I was overcome with a feeling of helplessness, because the doctor, who demanded to speak Romanian, was treating a man who was in a state of near-anxiety. He was being humiliated and discriminated against by someone we had called for help.

I feel that he abused this situation, he played the role of a little king. I wonder how many other elderly Hungarians he has done the same to,” she said.

For legal help, the woman turned to lawyer Botond Csoma, MP of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ) in Cluj County. Csoma told the newspaper that he considers the case to be extremely serious, especially because it was the act of a doctor who had treated a patient as a specialist of the state ambulance service.

In fact, the discrimination was committed by the person providing the assistance against the person in need, i.e. also against the vulnerable person,”

he explained.

“I spoke to Levente Vass, the RMDSZ MP for Mures County, who is a member of the health committee of the lower house of parliament, and with whom we are jointly appealing to the Cluj County Health Directorate and the Ministry of Health for a public explanation. I myself will raise the matter in Parliament, saying how inhumane it is to tell a person seeking medical help not to use his mother tongue and to speak Romanian in a conversation in a private home. I think that clear action is needed from the competent authorities,” the MP emphasized.

As it turned out, the case is not unique. Csoma reported that

a taxi driver recently warned his clients not to speak Hungarian in the car. In this case, he was prosecuted and fined.

Furthermore, a few years ago, a doctor at the orthopedic emergency department of the children’s hospital on Mócok Street in Cluj-Napoca warned a child because he did not speak Romanian properly.

Szabadság also contacted the director of the Cluj County Ambulance Service about the case. Horia Simu said he understood that the ambulance service representative had done a wonderful job, but asked that those present speak Romanian so that he could get all the information he needed for the patient’s benefit. “I cannot say more than that at the moment. We will listen to the version of our employee concerned, investigate the matter this week and respond to the letter of complaint,” the director told the newspaper.

Via Szabadság.ro, Featured photo via Pixabay