A group of United States congressmen has assured a delegation from the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ) of their “effective support” for the party’s objectives to improve the situation of the country’s 1.5 million-strong Hungarian minority.
The delegation, comprised of party chairman and former Deputy Prime Minister of Romania Hunor Kelemen, Senate member Barna Tánczos and the party’s secretary for foreign affairs Loránt Vincze – met the influential Republican congressman Joseph Pitts, who chairs the human rights committee named after the late Tom Lantos on the second day of their visit. Mr. Pitts promised the delegation to identify the most effective methods to pressure Romania not to go astray from the path of democratic consolidation.
A similar position was taken by fellow Republican Reid Ribble, a member of the foreign affairs committee’s subcommittee for Europe and Eurasia. The Wisconsin representative is concerned that Romania is restricting the right to property and freedom of religion by taking back rights already granted to the country’s autochtonous ethnic Hungarian community.
Following the meeting, the party delegation held discussions with Democratic members of the Tom Lantos human rights committee and informed them of the worrying developments to the situation of the ethnic Hungarians in Romania. The conversation was also joined by Hungarian Ambassador to the United States Réka Szemerkényi.
The ethnic Hungarian party, which has formed part of several Romanian governments, is calling on the United States to speed up the process of handing back property unlawfully confiscated under Communism to their rightful owners, which is currently stagnating in Romania and there have been signs of covert efforts of nationalisation. The Hungarian community is also restricted in the use of its symbols, and its strive to enhance its position as a minority have has been officially branded a threat to the country’s public safety, RMDSZ chairman Hunor Kelemen told US State Department official Hoyt Yee on the first day of his visit to the United States on Wednesday.
The delegation was invited to the United States by the Hungarian Human Rights Foundation (HHRF); the date of the visit coincides with the 95th anniversary of the Trianon Peace Treaty.
via rmdsz.ro and vasarhelyiujsag.ro
photo: rmdsz.ro