UDMR President Kelemen Hunor said that if Hungarians and Roma had not been patient in Romania, maybe things would have been very different, and he called on Roma to accept their identity, language, ethnicity, culture, and then “nobody will get away with it”.

“If Hungarians and Roma had not been tolerated in Romania, maybe everything would have been completely different. (…) We were in solidarity together at all times – whether it was about communism or about the last 33 years. I want to thank you for your solidarity in 1990 in Tirgu Mures. We will never forget. (…) Every time you demonstrated and demonstrate how strong you are, how committed you are. You are a real force because you participate in the social, economic, cultural and political life of Romania,” said Kelemen Hunor at the Congress of Representatives of the Roma Communities of Romania.

“We will not argue about numbers. I think you are much more than Hungarians in Romania, you are in the first place, but you have to want it and you have to show that you are a strong force. You have to organize yourself, and if you organize your communities, the Roma Party, you will be more effective. You are extremely pragmatic, but also get results. You understand – 10% Roma Party in the Romanian Parliament, 7% new, with redistribution, of course. That is, 17%. The minority group is still around 6%. See you soon, PSD and PNL! How will you lead, with whom will you lead?!” Kelemen Hunor said, according to the Agerpres agency.

He added that the UDMR was in power for about 15 years “with luck, with grief”, but if it had stayed for 33 years, “Romania would have looked different”.

“We didn’t discuss cash today, it’s a necessary measure, but every time it depends on how you take that measure. Mr. Prime Minister, I would not like to talk about cash, I would like to say it privately. I have a very good friend from Mures, from the Roma community, we were classmates, and he told me to tell you if I see you that there are two things that remain fashionable – a leather jacket and cash,” added the UDMR president .

Kelemen: “There are two permanently discriminated communities in Romania”

Kelemen Gunor called on the Roma to accept their identity.

“You have to embrace your identity, your language, your ethnicity, your culture, and then you really become an extremely powerful force. No one will bypass you. If I didn’t live in Romania, I wouldn’t be a Romanian citizen, I would only do public opinion polls and sociological research and see that in Romania there are two communities that are constantly discriminated against – yours and mine. It’s true. The reasons are different, but the effect, the results of discrimination are roughly the same. A stigmatized person or community means that they are discriminated against, which means that the discontent of the majority, very often, turns against these communities. We cannot accept this, this cannot be accepted. Distrust on the part of the majority should not be directed at Roma and Hungarians. We are loyal citizens, we pay taxes, we work and we have contributed to the development of Romania,” he said.

PSD President, Prime Minister Marcel Çolaku, PNL leader Nicolae Çuke, interim President of the Chamber of Deputies Alfred Simonis and other politicians also took part in the event organized on Sunday at the Palatului Hall in Bucharest.