Shadow Report to the Forth Report Presented to the Secretary General
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Hungarian National Council of Transylvania Szekler National Council Erdélyi Magyar Nemzeti Tanács Székely Nemzeti Tanács Consiliul Național Maghiar din Transilvania Consiliul Național Secuiesc Shadow Report to the Forth Report Presented to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on the Implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in Romania Cluj Napoca / Kolozsvár December 2016 HNCT address: 400165, Cluj Napca/Kolozsvár, Suceava street, nr. 17, Romania Telephone: +40 264 333461, E-mail: [email protected] SzNC address: 520009, Sfântu Gheorghe/Sepsiszentgyörgy, Konsza Samu street, nr. 21, Romania Telephone: +40 267 318180, E-mail: [email protected] Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 3 1.1. Introduction of the Hungarian National Council of Transylvania (HNCT) .............................................. 3 1.2. Introduction of the Szekler National Council ......................................................................................... 4 1.3. Information on the Shadow Report ........................................................................................................ 4 1.4. Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................................. 5 2. Brief presentation of the Hungarian community in Romania ....................................................................... 6 2.1. The presentation of the Hungarian community ..................................................................................... 6 2.2. The political representation of Hungarians in Romania ......................................................................... 7 3. General comments on the Second Periodical Report submitted by Romania .............................................. 9 4. Detailed article by article comments on the implementation of the FCPNM ............................................. 14 Article 5 ........................................................................................................................................................ 14 The use of the Szekler flag ....................................................................................................................... 15 Singing the Hungarian anthem ................................................................................................................ 17 Article 7 ........................................................................................................................................................ 18 Article 10...................................................................................................................................................... 22 General comments on the Forth State Report submitted by Romania regarding Article 10 .................. 22 Legal background and the Romanian administrative system ................................................................. 23 Monitoring Project on the implementation of minority language usage in Romania ............................ 26 Recommendations ................................................................................................................................... 31 Article 12...................................................................................................................................................... 32 Access to textbooks ................................................................................................................................. 32 Equal access to education at all levels for persons belonging to national minorities ............................. 35 Exams and competitions in minority languages ...................................................................................... 37 Conclusion and recommendation ........................................................................................................... 38 Article 14...................................................................................................................................................... 38 The Romanian education system and minority education...................................................................... 38 Systemic problems of the minority education in Romania ..................................................................... 40 Conclusions and recommendations ........................................................................................................ 48 Article 15...................................................................................................................................................... 48 Article 16...................................................................................................................................................... 50 Facts and contextual elements regarding the territorial reform in Romania. Hungarian minority reasons for change. ............................................................................................................................................... 51 Concerns about the lack of dialogue between government officials and the Hungarian representatives regard the Szeklerland as a region .......................................................................................................... 55 1 Conclusions and recommendations ........................................................................................................ 57 5. Concluding remarks ..................................................................................................................................... 58 2 1. Introduction Romania signed the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities on February 1, 1995, and ratified it in the same year by Law 33/1995. The Framework Convention ensures a series of rights for national minorities such as free choice of identity, protection against discrimination and hate speech, the preservation of the culture of national minorities, freedom of association, the usage of the minority language in the public and private life, access to media, public and private education in minority languages, participation of persons belonging to national minorities to public affairs, and so on. This report is the result of the joint collaboration of the Hungarian National Council of Transylvania (HNCT) and the Szekler National Council (SZNC), two civic organizations in Romania. 1.1. Introduction of the Hungarian National Council of Transylvania (HNCT) The main objective of the Hungarian National Council of Transylvania (HNCT) is to defend the rights and interests of the Hungarian community in Romania, to consolidate civil society, democracy, rule of law and political pluralism in the country, and to support the economic, social, cultural and institutional development of the region. The Council incorporates 19 territorial organizations covering the entire Transylvanian area, and operates a network of 33 offices. Except for the central office situated in Cluj, these serve the needs of 32 micro-regions and function under the name: HNCT Centers of Democracy. From a legal point of view, the network’s operation is ensured by an independent NGO, an association called Asociaţia „EMNT Egyesület”. The activity of the centers are supervised by the Presidium and the regional representative bodies of the Hungarian National Council of Transylvania. Together, these 33 Centers of Democracy form a non- governmental organization based on the work of numerous volunteers. This organization operates as a network and pursues communitarian and societal goals, centered mainly on the provision of services and the protection of citizens’ rights. The network also constitutes the permanent organizational infrastructure necessary for the Hungarian National Council of Transylvania to achieve its goals. The centers perform an activity similar to a public service, pursue the common good by assuming the obligation of protecting citizens’ rights and interests, ensuring their equality of chances and the promotion of their interests, while catering to the needs of individuals and groups belonging to the Hungarian community in Transylvania. The HNCT implements several important programs and organizes various activities. More precisely, the representatives of earlier mentioned territorial organizations organize event in order to mobilize the local community. The activity-types are the following: 1. Assistance offered in terms of preparing, managing and verifying various programs operated by Hungarian public foundations. 2. Monitoring of local governments (monitoring and publishing the main resolutions made by local and county governments, generating public debates). 3. Maintaining of permanent relationships with educational, scientific and cultural institutions as well as political and non-governmental organizations. 4. Establishing links between professional organizations and forums, organizing inter-regional meetings. 5. Monitoring of various tenders (organized by the European Union, the Hungarian government and/or Romanian contracting authorities); counseling and fostering relationships with firms specialized in writing applications. 3 6. Connecting ethnic Hungarian communities, and creating a network, which encompasses the entire Carpathian Basin. 7. Organizing cultural and scientific events. 1.2. Introduction of the Szekler National Council The Szekler National