1.7. Driving test in Hungarian

3. THE PERSECUTION OF HUNGARIAN SYMBOLS

3.1. Banning the Szekler flag

Putting up the Szekler flag, the symbol of the historic region of Szeklerland, still constitutes a problem in Romania. Many Hungarian mayors lost lawsuits for putting it up and even received exorbitant fines.

Prefects and the nationalist organization of Dan Tanasă, the Civic Association for Dignity in Europe (ADEC) have been very active over the past few years regarding the banning of the Szekler flag. They demanded that Hungarian mayors in Szeklerland remove the Szekler flag from public spaces or from the building of the local administration. Many lawsuits have been initiated against the mayors that refused to take the flags down because they felt the attack against the symbols of the Hungarian minority to be unjust and a double standard. Most of the mayors lost these court cases. However, many mayors are discouraged from fighting for the rights of their local community in the first place and decide to take down the flag, due to the ongoing pressure from authorities.

In 2021 the last szekler flag in Covasna county had to be removed, which was displayed in the village center of Ojdula/Ozsdola, next to the monument of the heroes of the Second World War. This case, as well, like many others, is related to the well-known anti-Hungarian provocateur, Dan Tanasă.

Cases of the last few years show that the prefects or the leader of ADEC are not interested in a broader conversation about local and regional symbols or learning about their significance to the communities in case.

Last year the practice of removing the Szekler flag continued, this time the Szekler flag was removed from the center of Ojdula/Ozsdola

Observations and recommendations: In many regions in Romania, like Moldova and Bucovina, and across Europe in various countries, people can use their flags freely in public spaces. The Szekler flag, the symbol of Szeklerland is no different than any other regional symbols, which should be used freely. However, the lack of communication and compromise leads to the above-mentioned unfortunate cases, which deepen the tension between the majority and minority population.

3.2. Problems pertaining to the administrative flags featuring regional symbols

The persecution of Hungarian symbols also affects the administrative flags featuring regional symbols. Despite the fact that it is legal for territorial administrative units to adopt their own flags, the cities and the counties with a Hungarian majority population still face a number of problems.

The county councils of Covasna/Kovászna and Harghita/Hargita, as well as certain municipalities in the mentioned counties adopted administrative flags in recent years, but subsequently lost lawsuits, with the courts declaring these flags illegal.

After almost a decade without official symbols, Hungarian municipalities in Romania were finally legally allowed to use their symbols, however anti-Hungarian organizations attacked the decision of the Romanian Government that allowed the use of these symbols and started legal procedures in order to nullify the decision that makes it possible for these symbols to be displayed