Rehn under fire over Hungarian minority rights
25.04.2006 - 17:39 CET | By Honor Mahony
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - A group of MEPs have accused enlargement
commissioner Olli Rehn of ignoring the plight of the Hungarian minority
in Romania in his approach to Bucharest's EU membership bid.
A letter delivered to the European Commission on Tuesday refers to the
commission's "apparent readiness to regard the questions troubling the
Hungarian minority, which have serious human rights implications, as
being of no concern to the commission".
The letter has been signed by 15 MEPs, all but two from the
centre-right European People's Party.
According to a Hungarian parliament official, Hungarian socialist MEPs
agreed with "most points of the letter" but have composed a separate
statement on the issue.
Minorities law
Among the issues the sent letter highlights is Romania's "failure to
pass the minorities law" and "shortcomings in the provision by the
Romanian state of Hungarian-language higher education facilities".
Gyorgy Schopflin, the centre-right Hungarian MEP who initiated the
letter, said Mr Rehn's attitude towards the issue appeared to have
changed and hardened by the time he gave a crucial assessment on
Romania's readiness for EU membership to MEPs at the beginning of
April.
"I think he was subjected to heavy Romanian lobbying" he told the
EUobserver adding that Bucharest "wants this whole issue [of
minorities] to disappear below the radar".
The letter accuses the commissioner of being "inclined to sweep these
issues under the carpet" and of being "sceptical about the existence of
the problems outlined".
Currently, ethnic Hungarians in Romania account for almost seven
percent of the population, running to around 1,400,000 people,
according to the last census in 2002.
The commission, which has not yet formally processed the letter, has
denied Mr Schopflin's accusations.
Commission report
Referring to the allegation that the commissioner had changed his
stance on the issue, the enlargement spokesperson said "This is not the
case, he has not changed his line at all".
For its part, the Romanian mission declined to comment on the letter,
but referring to minorities generally a spokesperson said that "the
minorities in Romania have a lot of rights".
The Romanian spokesperson pointed out that "the Romanian minority is
part of the coalition government ... it is represented in all the
structures of the state, including ministers and state secretaries".
In its 2005 annual progress report on Romania's EU bid, the commission
pointed out that the minority law still had not been passed by
parliament but noted that the Hungarian minority situation "has
continued to improve" since the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians from
Romania came into power.
This latest manoeuvering comes shortly before the commission's crucial
mid-May report which is likely to recommend when Romania should join
the EU, either in 2007 as planned or postponed until 2008.
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