The leader of the Sfântu Gheorghe Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR), Antal Arpad, who is also the mayor of the municipality, has stated that prime minister Marcel Ciolacu made „a mistake” by declaring, during his visit to Mures, Harghita and Covasna counties at the end of last week, that „the Székely Land does not exist” and that „it will never have autonomy”.
„I thought, in my naivety, that (…) Mr. Ciolacu wanted to come to boost a little the popularity of the Romanian Government in the Székely region (…) However, by coming to the Székely region, saying that the Székely Land does not exist and that it has never had and will never have autonomy, he certainly „boosted” a little the confidence index of the Government among the Hungarian population. However, I don’t want to get into this polemic for two reasons: one – because Székely Land existed, exists and will exist, and two – because Székely Land has had and will continue to have autonomy (…) I think that the prime minister made a mistake by coming to Székely Land with these messages. So, I think he made a mistake, or he was advised inappropriately. And I will tell you why: when they have to choose between the original and the copy, people will always choose the original and in matters of anti-Hungarianism or anti-Szeklerland, AUR [the Alliance for the Union of Romanian] and [senator Diana] Sosoaca [leader of SOS Romania, editor’s note] will always be more original than Ciolacu. So, there is no chance that any Romanian citizen who has problems with us, with Hungarians, will vote for him, when he can vote for Sosoaca or Simion [AUR chairman, editor’s note]. When people can choose the original, they will vote the original and not the copy,” mayor Antal Arpad told a press conference on Monday.
He added that „you must never say never,” pointing out, among other things, that both the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the National Liberal Party (PNL) said they will never become allies.
„Mr Ciolacu often talks about politicians and statesmen. Statesmen do not make such gestures towards a community that has lived on these lands for 1000 years. However, it would be very good if Mr Ciolacu, next time he comes to the Székely Land, met the elected representatives of the Székely Land and discussed the real problems in the Székely Land. Because that didn’t seem very elegant to me either, to come to Székely Land and not meet the president of the County Council, for example. Being in Covasna, the mayor of Covasna and the president of the County Council could have been there. I say that if you want to show normality, this would have been the normal thing to do,” said Antal Arpad.
UDMR’s primary goal in Romania ar present is for this region to achieve autonomy, so it comes as no surprise.
