MAE on declaration regarding Trianon adopted in the Hungarian Parliament: Any attempt to rewrite history is unacceptable

The Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) announced that it took note of the decision of Parliament in Budapest to declare 2020 as Year of National Cohesion and, thus, to mark 100 years since the signing of the Treaty of Trianon, but rejects as unfounded, the justifications invoked to promote this declaration. "The Foreign Affairs Ministry took note of the decision of the National Assembly of Hungary to declare 2020 as Year of National Cohesion and, thus, to mark the 100th anniversary since the signing of the Treaty of Trianon, on 4 June 1920. The Foreign Affairs Ministry reiterates that any attempt to rewrite the history and bring up some revisionist standpoints is unacceptable and doesn't suit the realities of the 21st century Europe or the bilateral cooperation ambitions established through the Strategic Partnership, through the Treaty of understanding, cooperation and good neighborliness between Romania and the Republic of Hungary, signed in Timisoara on 16 September 1996 and through the EU and NATO membership. The Foreign Affairs Ministry rejects as unfounded, the justifications invoked to promote this declaration, not existing, from Romania's view, 'political, economic, judicial and psychological issues created by this peace treaty that haven't been solved until now," a MAE release made public on Saturday informs. "The Treaty of Trianon, which established, among others, the border between Romania and Hungary is not a problem that needs solving, as the Budapest authorities systematically try to accredit, nor does it represent a tragedy, as it is noted in the text of the current act adopted by Hungary's Parliament. This treaty is an essential element of current geopolitical reality at European level, being part of the peace treaties system signed in 1919 that ended World War I - the real tragedy in the beginning of the last century that ended approximately 19.000.000 lives - and which allowed the birth and consolidation of some national states in the region, including Hungary. Hungary, a party to this Treaty, has the obligation to strictly observe the provisions and execute them in good faith, according to the basic principles of international law," the MAE release mentions. The Foreign Affairs Ministry mentions that Romania doesn't challenge Hungary's right to establish through law, ways to mark the significant historic moments of its history, but "it cannot accept for such manifestations to bring up the international treaties system, which formed the basis of the configuration of today's Europe or to question, directly or indirectly, how Romania observes the rights of its citizens of Hungarian ethnicity, in order to feed the rhetoric of their belonging to a distinct, nostalgic nation, defined in fictional borders and captive of some historic ideals which Europe has surpassed through the creation of the European Union." "Romania and Hungary must work together to consolidate this peace project, a guarantor of the promotion of fundamental rights and freedoms, and the prosperity of societies and the political and legal foundations of the bilateral relationship start from this common vision. Romania is deeply attached to the observance of human rights, including those belonging to national minorities, in accordance with international norms and standards, as reflected in the Treaty of understanding, cooperation and good neighborliness between Romania and the Republic of Hungary, signed in Timisoara on 16 September 1996," the MFA said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs underscores the genuine interest of the Romanian state in ensuring, through all its policies, as part of good governance, the protection and promotion of identity rights (linguistic, religious, cultural, ethnic) of all persons belonging to national minorities on its territory and strengthening interethnic dialogue. Over the past decades, Romania has defined, with the fundamental involvement of the members of the national minorities living on its territory, an advanced system, a model system for the protection of their rights, based on the idea of cultural diversity and interculturalism, an essential condition for building an integrated society based on knowledge and mutual respect. The MAE reiterated "Romania's firm commitment to build a solid, pragmatic bilateral relation, based on mutual respect and future-oriented to the benefit of the Romanian and Hungarian citizens, regardless of ethnicity, with similar expectation from the Hungarian side." The Treaty of Trianon was signed on 4 June 1920, between the Allied Powers in the First World War and Hungary, as the successor state of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a state defeated in the World War I. The Treaty was signed at the Grand Trianon Palace in Versailles by 16 allied states (including Romania), on the one hand, and Hungary, on the other hand. The Treaty, which came in force on 26 June 1921, was signed in order to establish the borders of the new Hungarian state with its neighbors: Austria, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (a state which subsequently became Yugoslavia), Romania and Czechoslovakia. The Treaty of Trianon was part of the series of treaties concluded at the end of WW I, others being peace treaties concluded by the Allied Powers with Germany (Treaty of Versailles, on 28 June 1919), Austria (Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, on 10 September 1919), Bulgaria (Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine, on 27 November 1919) and with Turkey. AGERPRES (RO - author: Eusebi Manolache, editor: Catalina Matei; EN - editor: Rodica State)