Laszlo Tokes troubles the waters in UDMR, the Union suggests he should give up his MEP seat.
The electoral campaign has sparked inside the ethnic Hungarian community a fierce struggle for the votes of Hungarians living in Romania, between UDMR and the other parties of this minority. The flame of this conflict was lit during the first Congress of the Hungarian People’s Party of Transylvania (PPMT) Saturday, at Miercurea Ciuc, which elected as president the former UDMR deputy Toro T Tibor. From its floor, PPMT leaders along with the president of the National Council of Transylvanian Hungarians (CNMT), Laszlo Tokes and the head of the National Szeklers’ Council, Izsak Balazs – as special guests – delivered vehement speeches against UDMR and once again pleaded for the special self-governance of the region known as Szeklerland. On the other side of the barricade, UDMR attacks Tokes, warning that he can no longer be a partner of the Union, and sounds the roll-call of its members inside the coalition.In his speech delivered at the congress, CNMT leader Laszlo Tokes denounced UDMR as “the main tool of all Romanian governments against the Hungarian population.” “We are not as much affected by the Romanian ruling parties, but by the position of UDMR, because the main tool used by all Romanian governments against the Hungarian population is always UDMR. Often, UDMR does not represent us in the relations with the power, but represents the voice of the power within the Hungarian community,” Tokes said, quoted by Mediafax. The MEP added that he would be “pleased” if PSD returned to power, leaving UDMR outside the ruling coalition, “because then UDMR would no longer be used as tool of the government, of the post-communist power.” Tokes’ only fear is that the Union will “find the solution to be part of the power, which would be fatal for the Hungarian community.”
However, the previous day Tokes also had lashed out at Social-Democrats, saying in Targu Mures that he hopes the elections of this autumn will not be won by “the post-communists of Ponta and of Nastase the corrupt.”Tokes also criticised the Hungarian Socialists, proposing the participants in the Congress to symbolically “bar the access to Ardeal and Transylvania of the Hungarians that attack their own country.” Tokes praised the efforts made by the acting Cabinet led by Viktor Orban and blamed the Socialist opposition which, last week, voted in favour of sanctioning Hungary for weakening democracy. The Hungarian premier sent a video message to the PPMT Congress, saying that autonomy is “one of the unfulfilled common dreams.” The Hungarian government was represented at Miercurea Ciuc by Nemeth Zsolt, state secretary with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Budapest, who said that the time has come for reaching a strategic partnership between Romania and Hungary, focused on big infrastructure projects, the 2014-2020 European financial perspective, the cohesion policy, the common agricultural policy or the strategy for the Danube. The Hungarian diplomat added that it is for the ethnic Hungarians living in Transylvania to decide whom they trust and whom they will support in election
CNS wants an ‘inner homeland’ for hungarians
On the other hand, the president of the National Szeklers’ Council (CNS), Izsak Balazs assured PPMT of the Szekler population’s support in the strife for autonomy. Furthermore, he explained that, aside from obtaining the autonomy of Szeklerland, another task for the representatives of the Hungarian community is to create “an inner homeland for the Hungarians living in Romania.” “CNS will have more than one faithful partner, more than just PCM; there will also be PPMT. I am confident that we will be able to collaborate with the others, so Hungarian becomes a regional official language, as provided by the national Statute of Szeklers,” Izsak Balazs stated.The platform of the Hungarian People’s Party of Transylvania, voted by the founding congress in Miercurea Ciuc, actually stipulates obtaining the special self-governance of the so-called Szeklerland, along with guaranteeing the cultural autonomy of Romanians. Plus, the town of Cluj is considered the capital of Transylvania and PPMT wants to found here Hungarian-language institutions of higher education.
