UDMR chairman: Romanian society momentarily doesn't accept autonomy as solution to problem of minorities

Chairman of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) Kelemen Hunor said on Friday, while presenting his report to the formation's 12th Congress, that he entertained no illusions that the autonomy project conceived after the previous congress would be accepted, because the Romanian society currently is unwilling to accept cultural autonomy as a solution to the problem of minorities.

Photo credit: (c) Marius AVRAM / AGERPRES FLOW

"As I promised at the Congress held in Miercurea Ciuc, last year we worked out and put up for public debate that regional autonomy project that somewhat complements the cultural autonomy blueprint drafted some years ago. We didn't and do not delude ourselves. As responsible persons, we had no intention to sell illusions to our voters. We are aware and see that the Romanian society does not really understand and momentarily does not accept this way of solving the problem of minorities, which provides institutional guarantees," said Kelemen Hunor.

He stressed that UDMR's will is not enough to change this state of affairs, nor are UDMR's intentions sufficient for achieving the established targets.

"We must convince the Romanian society that we don't want to deprive anyone of anything and have no intention to harm anyone. But this task cannot be achieved without the support of the majority. Moreover, it takes patience and perseverance. But above all, we need to have confidence in ourselves, because without this solid community base, in absence of solid trust, we will face a difficult or even extremely difficult task," said the UDMR leader.

In his report Kelemen Hunor said that four years ago he also promised that UDMR would clarify the relationships with the Hungarian Government and its two...