Hungarians of Romania

Center for Documentation and Information on Minorities in Europe - Southeast Europe (CEDIME-SE) MINORITIES IN SOUTHEAST EUROPE Hungarians of Romania Acknowledgements This report was prepared in cooperation with the Ethnocultural Diversity Resource Center (EDRC). It was researched and written by Cathy O’Grady, Zoltán Kántor and Daniela Tarnovschi, Researchers of CEDIME-SE and EDRC. It was edited by Panayote Dimitras, Director of CEDIME-SE; Nafsika Papanikolatos, Coordinator of CEDIME- SE; Caroline Law, English Language Editors of CEDIME-SE, Rita Moore and Ioana Bianca Rusu, English Language Editors of EDRC. CEDIME-SE and EDRC would like to express their deep appreciation to the external reviewers of this report, Levente Salat, Executive President of EDRC, Anna-Mária Biró, Project Manager for Central and Eastern Europe of Minority Rights Group International, Klára Walter, Reviewer of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania, Ovidiu Pecican, Reader at Babeş- Bolyai University, Cluj, Faculty of European Studies, Iudith Páll, dr. Lecturer at Babeş- Bolyai University, Cluj, Faculty of History and Philosophy, and Lucian Nastasă, Researcher at the Romanian Academy. CEDIME-SE and EDRC would also like to thank all persons who generously provided information and/or documents, and/or gave interviews to their researchers. The responsibility for the report’s content, though, lies only with CEDIME-SE. We welcome all comments sent to: [email protected]. 1 MAJOR CHARACTERISTICS State Romania Name (in English, in the dominant language and, if different, in the minority language): English – Hungarian, Magyar; Romanian – Maghiar, Ungur; Hungarian – Magyar. Is there any form of recognition of the minority? Hungarians are recognised by the Constitution of Romania (henceforth: the Constitution) (Art. 6). However, there is recognition only of members belonging to the national minority, not of the community as a whole. The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania has been part of the ruling political coalition between 1996- 2000. Category(ies) (national, ethnic, linguistic or religious) ascribed by the minority and, if different, by the state: Hungarians are identified as a national minority both by the minority itself and by the state. Territory they inhabit: Mainly Transylvania (Western Romania), but there are also scattered Hungarian communities throughout the country. Population: According to the latest census (1992) 1,624,959 (7.12% of the total population) persons identified themselves as Hungarian, while estimated data show that the number of persons whose native-tongue is Hungarian exceeds 1.8 million (http://www.rmdsz.ro). 98.7% of Hungarians in Romania live in Transylvania. Name of the language spoken by the minority: English - Hungarian; Hungarian - Magyar; Romanian - Maghiara Is there any form of recognition of the language? The Constitution provides for the right of persons belonging to national minorities to be educated in their mother tongue. Also the Law on Public Administration provides for the use of minority languages in public administration where the minority population exceeds 20%. The provision however, is scarcely observed except for regions where due to the large number of Hungarians (over 80% in south-eastern Transylvania, see below) Hungarian is naturally used in every field of life. Dominant language of the territory they inhabit: Romanian in most areas. In some parts of Transylvania Hungarian predominates. In Covasna and Harghita counties (south-eastern Transylvania) 76.17% and 84.41% of the population respectively, speak Hungarian. Occasional or daily use of the minority language: Hungarians in Romania use their language on a daily basis. Access to education corresponding to the needs of the minority: Primary and secondary levels – insufficient in some geographical areas. Higher – insufficient, particularly with regard to certain subjects / departments (e.g. law, medicine, public administration). 2 Religion(s) practised: Roman-Catholic (41.2%), Calvinist (47.1%), Unitarian (4.6%), Greek Catholic (1.4%), Orthodox (1.7%), Evangelic Synod - Presbyterian, Baptist (0.8%), Adventist of the Seventh Day Faith (0.5%), Pentecostal (0.3%) (Census from 1992, Vol. IV) and Christian after the Gospel (there is no mention in the census nor in the materials received from DAHR). Is there any form of recognition of the religion(s)? The Constitution (Art. 29) guarantees the right of free worship to all Romanian citizens, as do several international documents signed by Romania. Also, the so-called historical churches, i.e. the Roman- Catholic, the Calvinist (Reformed) and the Unitarian, are registered legal entities in Romania. Communities having the same characteristics in other territories/countries: Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine. Hungarians in the countries neighbouring Hungary may be regarded as national minorities as they have been living in the same place for centuries, but under the rule of different states. The Diaspora, Hungarians living in the United States, Canada, Australia and Sweden etc., or immigrant groups, generally do not seek or strive for particular cultural and political rights. Population of these communities in the other territories/countries of Central and Southeast Europe. (All figures from World Directory of Minorities, Minority Rights Group, 1997, unless otherwise stated) • Croatia –25 439 (0.53%) (Pataki Gabor Zsolt, 2000) • Czech Republic – 20,143 (0.2%) • Hungary – 10,068,500 (97.9%) (World Directory of Minorities, 1997) • FRY – 385,356 (3.93%) • Slovakia – 567,000 (10.8%) • Slovenia – 9,496 (0.48%) (Pataki Gabor Zsolt, 2000) • Ukraine – 163,000 (0.31%) (George Brunner, 1989) 3 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Important historical developments A. History Historically speaking, Romanian-Hungarian relations have often been one of the most critical in Eastern Europe. Analysing the historical conflict between Romanians and Hungarians, many researchers have stressed the different cultural and religious identities of the two peoples. Dennis Deletant pointed out the lack of “synchronism” between the cultural experiences of Hungarians and the predominantly Eastern Orthodox experience of Romanians. Its effect consisted in a divergence of behavioural values (Deletant, 1990:2). George Schopflin (Schopflin, 1988), Trond Gilberg (Gilberg, 1990) and Ken Jowitt (Jowitt, 1971) indicated the different historical experiences of the two peoples. When the modern nation-building process took place in the 19th century, Hungarians in Transylvania considered themselves as belonging to the Hungarian nation, while Romanians in Transylvania identified themselves (through the cultural movements) with the modern Romanian national movement. Different interests and political orientations generated a historical mythology that was sometimes based on conflict. These led to subsequent political and military confrontations between the two nations in 1848, and during the two World Wars. The beginning of Hungarian history, like as with most nations, is quite nebulous. The only certain indicator is the language: Hungarians speak a Finno-Ugric language belonging to the Uralic language family. It is likely that at the beginning the Uralic tribes lived in the area of the Ural Mountains. There are other hypotheses that place their origin somewhere East of the Ural Mountains, in Western Siberia or Central Asia. The Hungarians separated from the Ugric group around 1000 BC, and started moving West. Their migration took place in several phases. During the migration process, they were exposed to linguistic and cultural influences from the Turks and the Iranians, nations with whom they had contact (Magyarország története, I/1, 1987:377-544, Kopeczi, 1994: 110-114). The “settlement” took place in 895 AD: the Hungarian tribes led by Árpád entered the Carpathian Basin. In order to make sure that the Hungarians would survive between the Roman-German Empire and the Byzantine Empire, and also that they would be integrated in the European order, Duke Géza (died in 997), descendent of Árpád, decided to convert them to Christianity. Stephen the Saint (997 to 1038), son of Géza, succeeded to the throne in 1000AD. The Hungarian Christian Kingdom was established during his time (Kristó, 1998: 48-114, Kopeczi, 1994: 138-178). The Hungarian and Romanian historiographers have different opinions about the time when Transylvania (called Transylvania in Romanian, Erdély in Hungarian, and Siebenbürgen in German) became part of the Hungarian Kingdom. On the one hand, relying on the theory of Dacian-Roman continuity, Romanian historiographers hold that the Hungarians found Romanian states when they came to the present territory of Transylvania. They also believe that the conquest of Transylvania by the Hungarians was a step-by-step process that lasted for many years, and was completed in the 13th century (Pascu, 1983). 4 On the other hand, Hungarian historiographers believe that the Hungarians crossed the Eastern and Southern Carpathians on their way to the Pannonian Plain. The Southern part of Transylvania was under the political influence of the Bulgarian Tsar. Many toponyms testify the presence of Slavs in the area. At the beginning, Transylvania was looked upon as an asset, especially because of its salt mines. This is why the valleys of the Mureş, the Târnave and the Someşul Mic were the first to be occupied (Erdély rövid története, 1989:105-157). The conquest

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