Hungarian Minority Party Suspends Collaboration Protocol with Ruling Coalition

According a statement issued by the party, UDMR will cease to support any initiative or measure proposed by the Romanian Government, and will also not vote with the ruling coalition in the Parliament, until the situation in the Valea Uzului International Heroes' Cemetery will be solved.

The conflict began after the mayor of Darmanesti, a Bacau county commune, decided to erect monuments commemorating fallen Romanian soldiers in the nearby Valea Uzului military cemetery, which contains the graves of numerous unknown soldiers who fought in four different armies during the First and Second World War. The cemetery is situated Bacau county's border with the majority-Hungarian Harghita county.

Representatives of national minorities have since stated that the cemetery is administratively part of the Sanmartin commune in Harghita, which incorporates the village of Valea Uzului, and that authorities in Darmanesti illegally erected the gravestones on top of the graves of fallen Hungarian soldiers.

Tensions over the situation rose earlier this month, after 52 gravestones of fallen Romanian soldiers and the cemetery’s main monument were found covered with black garbage bags, in an apparent act of defilement. A ceremony planned by authorities in Darmanesti to inaugurate the gravestones and a monument for Romanian soldiers was postponed following the incident.

In the statement issued on Thursday, UDMR criticized the Romanian Government for not taking necessary measures to de-escalate the situation, adding that authorities committed abuses against Hungarian minority officials in the area.

“This morning, Bacau Police raided the home of the Sanmartin deputy mayor and the Sanmartin Town Hall. Deputy Mayor Laszlo Antal was detained for questioning at the Harghita Police Inspectorate, despite the fact that no one was questioned until now for the destruction and profanation of Hungarian soldiers graves in the Valea Uzului cemetery, nor for inciting cross-ethnic hatred. Authorities also failed to tak note of the abuses made by the mayor of Darmanesti, which contributed to the escalation of the events,” the party said.

The Hungarian minority party considers that the gravestones “desecrate” the graves of WW1 Hungarian soldiers and requested the Romanian Government to demolish the construction, as well as investigate the Bacau county mayor.

UDMR's leadership previously requested Prime Minister Viorica Dancila earlier this month to intervene in order to stop the erection of the new gravestones.

While never officially part of the ruling coalition, the Hungarian minority party voted with PSD-ALDE in several key votes during the past years, including when the coalition managed to pass new criminal code amendments in April.

If you liked this story, please follow MEDIAFAX.RO on FACEBOOK »

The content of mediafax.ro is for your information only. Republishing or using this content is forbidden without express consent of MEDIAFAX. For this consent, please ask for it by mail at vanzari@mediafax.ro.