The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ) finds the new, illegal erection of crosses in Úz Valley abominable and condemns it. It will support the local government of Csíkszentmárton (Sânmartin) in restoring legal order.
The RMDSZ chairman, Hunor Kelemen, in a statement sent to MTI on Monday, noted that last Saturday, Romanian “extremist nationalists and chauvinists” marched to the military cemetery in Úz Valley to “desecrate once again the cemetery and the memory of the soldiers resting there.”
He also pointed out that a final court decision had found that the concrete crosses erected in 2019 had been placed illegally and without permission in the military cemetery.
This Saturday, 150 wooden crosses were erected under the same circumstances – also without permission, illegally,”
Kelemen said.
According to the RMDSZ chairman, the fact that the situation did not escalate is entirely due to Hungarian community leaders who warned Hungarians not to engage in confrontations.
He added that the Csíkszentmárton municipality had already legally settled the situation at the cemetery once and was preparing to do so again.
RMDSZ will give every support to the municipality and will do its utmost to ensure that those who trample on the dignity of the Hungarian community in Romania receive their just punishment,”
Kelemen concluded.
On Saturday, supporters of the Romanian organization Calea Neamului (Way of the Nation) erected 150 wooden crosses at the International Military Cemetery to replace the concrete crosses removed on June 29. The smaller crosses, which had Romanian national ribbons on them, were joined by a larger cross and a flagpole with the Romanian flag on it. The leader of the organization, Mihai Tîrnoveanu, announced that he would hold talks with the Romanian Defense Ministry this week to make the “Romanian parcel” official.
In a statement sent to MTI on Monday, the Transylvanian Hungarian Alliance (EMSZ) pointed out that the provocation had been announced in advance by the organizers, but that the police did nothing to prevent the desecration of the cemetery, instead watching as extremist provocateurs vandalized the memorial. They also found injurious that gendarmerie chief Marian Stan told the press that nothing unlawful had happened at the cemetery in the Úz Valley.
The latest desecration of the cemetery proves that the Romanian authorities “in the spirit of Hungarian hostility elevated to state policy,” deliberately forget their duty to fulfill their legal mandate when provoking the Hungarian community, the party said. They concluded by saying that for them,
only one solution is acceptable, namely to preserve the cemetery in Úz Valley as what it was originally intended for: a resting place for the heroes who are really buried there,”
said the chairman of the EMSZ, who announced legal action against the participants, organizers, and supporters of Saturday’s actions.
Via Ungarn Heute; Featured photo: Facebook/Cătălin Gheorghe
