Romanian parliament building. Photo: PIxabay

Romania and Hungary faced fresh diplomatic tension on Friday after Hungary’s Foreign Minister told its diplomats to boycott Romanian national day events on December 1.

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, a member of Viktor Orban’s nationalist government, reportedly told Hungarian diplomats to stay away from celebrations in Romania on December 1 marking the 98th anniversary of the annexation of Transylvania from Hungary.

“Since Hungarian people have no reason to celebrate December 1, the Foreign and Trade Minister forbids all employees of the Foreign Ministry from attending Romania’s national holiday celebrations,” the statement read.

Romania’s ambassador to Budapest, Marius Lazurca, invited Hungarian officials to a reception he hosted on Thursday where he praised bilateral relations, but nobody from the Foreign Ministry came, Hungarian media reported.

Romania’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that it was taken by surprise by what had happened in Budapest.

“We are surprised and bewildered by the decision of Hungary … to forbid its diplomats from participating in celebrations and receptions on Romania’s National Day. It is difficult to understand especially since the European Union itself and the transatlantic community are based on a set of values including respect for other countries’ national symbols,” a statement from the Romanian Ministry read.

Hungary lost Transylvania at the end of World War I following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. On December 1, 1918, Romania declared its union with Transylvania, an ethnically mixed region, in which Romanians were the majority.

Since then the number of Hungarians in Transylvania has fallen. However, they are still a majority in the remote rural central counties of Harghita and Covasna.

About 1.2 million Hungarians make up 6 per cent of the Romania’s total population of 20 million.

Although Few Hungarians now believe Hungary will ever regain its lost province, many champion the idea of a Hungarian autonomous province or region within Transylvania.

Hungarians in Romania are represented in the Romanian parliament by the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, UDMR, and ahead of the legislative elections on December 11, several Hungarian politicians have been touring Transylvania in support of the UDMR.

The president of the Hungarian parliament Kover Laszlo staged a three-day Transylvanian tour last week which ended without incident.

However, when Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen visited in mid-November, he stated his strong support for any leaders of the Hungarian community abroad who were being “persecuted unjustly” for representing Hungarian interests.

He awarded “Hungarians Beyond Borders” prizes to several local politicians who are under investigation for corruption at an event at the local Hungarian consulate-general.

He also told the local Romanian media they were not welcome at the event, prompting a journalist at the meeting to tell BIRN: “He usually is like this when he comes to our town”.

“What is going on is the intimidation of Hungarians under the pretext of fighting corruption,” Semjen said at the event. “Hungary will never let these people down, they can always rely on Hungary’s support.”

The Romanian authorities did not react. “They never do, because they don’t want to stir too much nationalism in a region that is already sensitive. This way, he comes, he talks and he goes away,” the local journalist who declined to give her name explained.