On December 1 Romania held a military parade to celebrate the 100th anniversary of The Great Union, the foundation of modern-day Romania. On this day in 1918 the National Assembly was held in Alba Julia (Gyulafehérvár in Hungarian), where 1,228 elected delegates adopted the union resolution. The declaration promised “full national freedom” to all minorities and was read at a […]
Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, told Romanian President Klaus Iohannis that he considers the Romanian national holiday commemorating the unification with Transylvania to also be a European celebration. Juncker said: “Romania will celebrate on December 1 of the current year its centenary, the centenary of the great union, as our Romanian friends say. I wanted to say to […]
Hungarian and Romanian politicians, on both side of the border, often create and thrive on conflicts between the two nations. For example, this year on December 1, Romania will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the creation of modern state. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has already declared in a speech on Romanian soil (!), at Tusványos that “we understand why […]
Recently the Hungarian Academy of Sciences issued the statement: The dominant historical, archaeological, ethnographic and linguistic standpoints consider the Szeklers to be an integral part of the modern Hungarian nation in ethno-cultural terms. This is the latest in an ongoing debate about the Szeklers (Székelyek in Hungarian). In February 2013 demonstrators appeared in front of the Hungarian Consulate in the […]
Poet and translator Sándor Kányádi has died at age 90. Kányádi was born in 1929 in Nagygalambfalva (today Porumbeni), in rural Transylvania. He moved to Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca) in 1950 where he completed his university studies and worked as a Hungarian language and literature teacher. He started to publish poems in 1955 in literary and children’s magazines and also became active […]
The conflict between Hungary and Ukraine is getting out of control. The Orbán Government’s retaliatory blocking of Ukraine’s NATO and EU integration have met unanimous criticism. The dispute between Hungary and Ukraine began over the so-called Language Law. Ukraine’s Parliament passed legislation to promote the use of the Ukrainian language. Western Ukraine has a multi-ethnic population, among them ethnic Hungarians. […]
The Szekler flag (Székely zászló) has become a fairly prevalent symbol in areas of Tranylvania with Hungarian-speaking majorities, particularly in the counties of Hargita, Kovászna and Maros. But Romania’s central government has long held that this flag, seen as a symbol of Hungarian separatism, must not be flown on buildings that house public institutions or local government offices, thus including […]
While the political leadership of the Hungarian community in Transylvania firmly rejected parallels between Catalonia’s drive for independence and the future status of Hungarian-majority Hargita and Kovászna counties in Romania, the Romanian-language media appears concerned. This is especially true since Catalonia’s dramatic unilateral declaration of independence on 27 October–which was followed by the Spanish central government’s swift move to suspend […]
Fili is the nickname of the Children’s Philharmonic Orchestra from Szentegyháza (Transylvania, Romania). The orchestra and choir recently toured Canada to honor the country’s 150th anniversary visiting seven cities and giving 11 concerts. The musical group was founded 35 years ago in the ethnic Hungarian-speaking community and gained fame under the direction of Sándor Haáz. In the last decades the […]
Sometimes in Canada we have a tendency to see ourselves as exceptional when it comes to our model of multiculturalism and diversity. Yet societies throughout the world have found ways to handle diversity for centuries. In late June, I spent a week travelling along the Black Sea Coast, visiting Romania and Bulgaria. I was fortunate to have a private guide […]
