CNS AUTONOMY PROPOSAL CREATES UPROAR IN ROMANIA
Meeting in Sfantu-Gheorghe on 17 January, the Szekler National Council
(SZNT in Hungarian, CNS in Romanian) approved a draft-law proposal
regarding the autonomy of lands inhabited by the Szeklers, a group
within the Hungarian minority in Romania, Mediafax reported the next
day. The draft provides for the election of a president of the Szekler
lands to serve a four-year mandate, a local council serving as
parliament, and a police force serving under the local council.
Prosecutors and judges are to be bilingual in Romanian and Hungarian
and to reflect the demographics of the region. The draft is to be
presented to the Romanian parliament in early February. Interior
Minister and Social Democratic Party (PSD) Deputy Chairman Ioan Rus
was quoted on 19 January by the daily "Evenimentul zilei" as saying
that only institutions mentioned in the Romanian Constitution can
function in that country. PSD Covasna County Chairman Vlad Casunean
said the CNS is entitled to have its own government, parliament, "and
even its own territory -- but in Hungary." The opposition National
Liberal Party-Democratic Party Alliance also criticized the proposal.
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