Clarifications requested by UDMR after Viktor Orbán’s speech laced with racist remarks are delayed. Union leaders are waiting for Kelemen Hunor to return from vacation on Friday to discuss the topic, which was requested by President Klaus Iohannis and PSD leader Marcel Cholaku.

This is stated by Minister Tanchos Barna, who was annoyed by repeated questions from journalists from the government on this topic. When asked if he agreed with Orbán’s statements, he answered the same three times: “The point of view of UDMR was expressed by Mr. Kelemen.”

“We were waiting for a meeting of the Coalition, a discussion that could take place without any problems. President Kelemen arrives in the country on Friday. We have nothing to discuss earlier. Mr. Kelemen is on vacation until Friday,” he also said, answering the question whether the UDMR has prepared a clarifying point of view.

Tanchos Barna also noted that UDMR leader Kelemen Hunor was not among those who applauded Viktor Orbán’s speech in Băile Tușnad for the simple reason that “he was not at that speech.” “The images are wrong,” he said.

“UDMR has never used money from Hungary”

Regarding the funding from Budapest for investments in Transylvania, the funding that is carried out through funds close to the UDMR, Tanchos Barna said that they are legal and comply with national and European legislation.

Answering a question, he stated that “UDMR never used money from Hungary, never received funding, received money was never used for political purposes.”

Asked about the agreement that should exist at the government level for such investments, Tanchos Barna said that “if an agreement is deemed necessary at the diplomatic level, it will certainly exist between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from Bucharest and the Ministry from Budapest.”

“If it is necessary, it will certainly be,” he said.

An agreement that was never signed

The Hungarian government finances projects of the Hungarian community in Romania through the Pro Economica Foundation, founded by people close to the UDMR. However, the program is inconsistent with both the Basic Treaty between Romania and Hungary and the Report of the Venice Commission on preferential treatment of national minorities of the respective state.

The first involves limiting the state’s intervention in the affairs of related minorities only in the spheres of education and culture. In addition, the report of the Venice Commission also talks about these same two areas.

In addition, the same document emphasizes the fact that, in situations where laws applying to related minorities from another state in areas not provided for by international treaties or customs that require the consent of the state concerned, it is necessary to ask before applying any measure . However, Hungary did not ask for this.

In addition, the implementation of the Hungarian government program by a non-governmental association from another country does not meet the criteria defined by the Venice Commission.

Regarding the ethnic criteria referred to by the Romanian side, even if the Pro Economica Foundation claims to carry out projects at the national level, they have only been carried out in the counties of Hagita, Covasna and Mures, areas where the percentage of ethnic Hungarians exceeds 70 people. %.

However, the authorities in Bucharest avoided classifying the program carried out by the Hungarian government in Transylvania as illegal, citing the lack of consent from Romania. Perhaps it is also due to Bucharest’s lack of investment in the economic development of the three counties, among which Harghita and Covasna are among the poorest in the country. In addition, significant sums came to the state budget through VAT.

In 2020, the foreign ministers of Romania and Hungary discussed an investment agreement in Bucharest, but its signing has not yet taken place.

“We looked into each other’s eyes. And so we made a schedule”

The investment in Transylvania is a consequence of the “Kos Karoli Plan”, agreed in 2016 and implemented from the following year, it is the result of the National Strategy adopted by Viktor Orbán, voted by the Parliament of Budapest in 2011, and aims to reunite the nationality of the Hungarians of the Carpathian Basin in terms of identity rather than geographically. And for this, he put billions of euros at stake, a large part of which went to the Hungarian community of Transylvania.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bohdan Aurescu, has repeatedly complained that the large-scale investments of the Hungarian government in Transylvania do not have the consent of Romania.

How was this program? UDMR leader Kelemen Hunor stated in an interview with the Hungarian press that Bucharest leaders Liviu Dragnia and Celin Popescu Tericana did not ask for written consent for this.

This is demanded by the administration currently led by the PNL. Bohdan Aurescu and Peter Sijarto agreed to start discussions in 2020 in Bucharest.

“In 2017, I spoke with Teodor Meleshkanu about this problem (no economic program). We discussed the terms. We looked into each other’s eyes. And that’s why we made a schedule. I understand that the minister wants us to enter into a written agreement. We will do. On the territory of Romania, we cannot do without this agreement,” Sijarto said.

• Why Kelemen Hunor does not distance himself from Viktor Orbán and some frustrating issues on the Bucharest-Budapest axis
• Why was Romania angry with Hungary? The stakes of the Aurescu-Sijarto negotiations in Bucharest