MINELRES: Romania: Ethnic Minority Briefs No. 69
MINELRES moderator
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Wed Sep 10 18:10:26 2003
Original sender: Divers Bulletin <[email protected]>
No. 69 / September 8, 2003
DIVERS
- reporting ethnic diversity -
SUMMARY
1. LIBERTY STATUE FROM ARAD TO BE RE-ERECTED, UDMR SAYS�
2. ...WHILE HUNGARIAN PRESIDENT APPEALS TO ROMANIAN COUNTERPART OVER
STATUE
3. SENATE APPROVES CONTROVERSIAL CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.
4. A. NASTASE: ACCESSION TO NATO WIPED OUT THEMES OF ROMANIAN AND MAGYAR
EXTREMISTS
5. THEATRE COLLOQUY OF NATIONAL MINORITIES
6. ORTHODOX CLERGY INVESTIGATED FOR GYPSY KING CORONATION
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LIBERTY STATUE FROM ARAD TO BE RE-ERECTED, UDMR SAYS�
ARAD � The Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR) is not
going to bring action in court against the disapproval of Ministry of
Culture as regards the resolution to re-erect the Liberty Statue in
Arad, deeming that the institution in question lacks decision power,
thus it represented only a suggestion, stated the chairman of the
Federation in Arad, Andras Kiraly. He also stated that as long as there
is no normative document hindering the location of the monument, UDMR
proceedings are lawful, thus the relocation works for the statue
continue in accordance with the programme. "We had talks with UDMR
central leadership and with jurists, and, as a result, it was found out
that the decision of the Ministry of Culture originates as a suggestion
made for the local authorities in Arad. Yet, as long as there is no
government ordinance or another normative document interdicting the
location of the monument, we are in accordance with the law ", stated
Kiraly. (DIVERS)
summary
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...WHILE HUNGARIAN PRESIDENT APPEALS TO ROMANIAN COUNTERPART OVER STATUE
BUDAPEST - President Ferenc Madl sent a letter on 1 September to his
Romanian counterpart Ion Iliescu, expressing regret that a Romanian
ministerial committee has decided against re-erecting in Arad the
Liberty Statue, RFE/RL reported. Madl said that "in recent years we were
pleased to note that the commemoration of the day of the Hungarian
martyrs of the 1848 independence took place under honorable
circumstances" in Transylvania. It is the more regrettable that the
committee decided against re-erecting the statue of the 13 Hungarian
generals executed by the Habsburg Empire in 1849, he said. (DIVERS)
summary
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SENATE APPROVES CONTROVERSIAL CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
BUCHAREST - By a vote of 103-1, Romanian upper chamber of the Senate
approved on 1 September the constitutional amendments proposed by the
all-party parliamentary commission tasked with formulating them. The
amendments include the controversial provision granting members of
national minorities the right to use their native languages in courts of
justice. A compromise was reached between the Hungarian Democratic
Federation of Romania (UDMR) and the amendment's opponents, stipulating
that members of national minorities may use their native languages in
court if this does not obstruct the proceedings. According to RFE/RL,
this signifies that minorities will not be able to do so in counties
where the ethnic majority is Romanian. Senators representing the
nationalist Greater Romania Party boycotted the vote. The Democratic
Party said that it would vote against the constitutional amendments if
the Senate-Chamber of Deputies mediation commission approved the lower
house's version of the amendments, which did not include the compromise
reached in the upper house (DIVERS)
summary
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A. NASTASE: ACCESSION TO NATO WIPED OUT THEMES OF ROMANIAN AND MAGYAR
EXTREMISTS
BUCHAREST � Common accession of Romania and Hungary into the
North-Atlantic Alliance, even if altered in time, removed great part of
the themes belonging to the extremists in the two countries, stated on
Tuesday September 2 Prime Minister Adrian Nastase. He pointed out that
Romanian-Magyar relations have positively developed lately, while early
in the '90s, many problems had aroused between the two parties. "The way
how even the Magyars from Romania finally understood that in Hungary
there exist enough Hungarians and that their place is actually in
Romania where they are very eager in making things go well, indicates a
great maturity ", said Nastase. The Prime Minister reminded that this
month the governments of the two countries will sign an agreement
regulating how to implement the status Law of the Magyars living in the
countries neighbor with Hungary. (DIVERS)
summary
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THEATRE COLLOQUY OF NATIONAL MINORITIES
GHEORGHIENI � On August 29 �September 8, 2003 it will take place the
Theatre Colloquy of National Minorities in Romania, hosted in
Gheorghieni, Harghita County. The festivity is attended by: the Magyar
State Theatre - Cluj, the National Theatre Tg. Mures, the Ariel Puppets
Theatre - Tg. Mures, the State Theatre Oradea, Kiss Studio, Oradea,
North Theatre Satu Mare, Municipal Theatre in Miercurea Ciuc, Tamasi
Aron Theatre - Sf. Gheorghe, German State Theatre Timisoara, Radu Stanca
Theatre in Sibiu, German Section, State Jewish Theatre � Bucharest,
Bulandra Theatre � Bucharest, as well as a group of actors from
Bucharest who will perform in Greek language. This manifestation aims at
promoting cultural identity of the national minorities, by presenting
the most esteemed theatre performances held both in their mother
language as well as in Romanian. (DIVERS)
summary
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ORTHODOX CLERGY INVESTIGATED FOR GYPSY KING CORONATION
BUCHAREST - The controversial �coronation� of the �gypsy king� Ilie
Stanescu by an Orthodox priest at the Curtea de Arges Monastery (central
Romania) appalled and outraged the congregation and left the rest of the
Orthodox clergy in the country speechless, according to media reports. A
spokesperson for the Patriarchate said the situation was being
investigated. Apparently, Ilie Stanescu, who attended an orthodox divine
service on August 31 during he was 'coronated' as 'the king of gypsies
all around the world' would have wanted a much more pompous ceremony in
Bucharest but had to settle for Curtea de Arges. (DIVERS)
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DIVERS is a weekly news bulletin edited by the Mediafax News Agency with
financial support from
Ethnocultural Diversity Resource Center (EDRC) in Cluj.
For now, the full version of the bulletin is only available in Romanian
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