Language Research

In Romania, the governmental institution dealing with minorities is the Department for the Protection of National Minorities. This Department has the responsibility to monitor the problems of persons belonging to ethnic minorities. Specifically, to establish contacts with minority groups, to submit proposals for draft legislation and administrative measures, to maintain permanent links with local authorities and to investigate complaints.

The DAHR is the only party in the Parliament representing the interests of the Hungarian minority in Romania. In the 1996 parliamentary elections, the DAHR finished in fourth place. With a total of 812,653 votes, it obtained 25 mandates (7.24%) in the 343-seat Chamber of Deputies, and with 836,790 votes, 11 mandates (7.69%) in the 143-seat Senate, respectively. DAHR provides the main platform for the political activities of Romania's ethnic Hungarians. It is not only a political party but also an organization functioning on a national and democratic basis and actively protecting minority rights. The other Hungarian political groups, such as the Hungarian Christian Democratic Movement and the Small Landowners' Party, have a limited following and their membership supports the DAHR during elections.

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Updated (January 2002)

CZANGO MINORITY

The Csangos are a non-homogeneous group of Roman Catholic people of Hungarian origin. This ethnic group is a relic from the Middle Ages that has survived in the eastern part of the Romanian Carpathians. Csangos are associated with distinct linguistic peculiarities, ancient traditions, and a great diversity of folk art and culture. For centuries, the self-identity of the Csangos was based on the Roman Catholic religion and their own language, a Hungarian dialect, spoken in the family and the village community.

Today only 60,000 – 70,000 persons speak the Csango language.

Background

There is no consensus on who were their ancestors, where they came from, when they settled in Romania or how many they are today. Even the origin of the word “csango” is controversial. The only undisputed feature about the Csangos is their strong Roman Catholic faith. They live Romania, near the eastern slopes of the Carpathians, in villages around the cities of Bacau (southern group) and Roman (northern group), along the rivers Siret, Bistrita, Trotus and Tuzlau, where they preserve traditional European methods of agriculture, body of beliefs, and mythology, as well as the most archaic dialect of the Hungarian language. Their number ranges, depending on the definition, from as many as 260,000.

The Csangos have for centuries been living more or less isolated from other areas where Hungarian is spoken, in an area with a Romanian majority. This resulted in the development of a pocket with an individual, most specific culture, interacting with elements of Romanian culture. This culture is today on the verge of extinction. Assistance on the European level is needed to save their culture. The ethnic conscience of the Csangos is much weaker than that of other Hungarian-speaking ethnic groups. This may have several causes. It may reflect the weakly developed concept of nation among the settlers of the Middle Ages or the fact that their settlements are geographically dispersed, but an important factor has been the self-conscious, policy of assimilation practiced over the centuries by the surrounding society and in particular the Catholic Church.

Language

There is no doubt that the language of the Csangos is a form of Hungarian which belongs to the Finno-Ugrian family. As a result of the isolation from the Hungarian cultural development, their oldest sub-dialect, northern Csango, preserves numerous elements of the Hungarian language of the late middle Ages. It also contains new elements, specific to this language area. Because the Cangos are geographically dispersed, experience shows that the different dialects are mutually intelligible.

Current situation

The Csangos communicate only orally in their language. Education in this language has been systematically refused and even 1989's events did not help.

Some achievements can be notified such as the possibility to receive Duna TV programs (Hungarian television), the setting up of association defending Csango rights, and also the creation of certain private initiatives to provide a network of alternative schools.

According to the country's education legislation, it would be possible to reply favorably to the request of Csango parents to have language lessons in Csango within the official curriculum, by teachers paid professionally for the special work. However, this request has been rejected.

The Csangos do not have any political request. They claim only the recognition of their culture and the right to preserve their identity, including the Csango language. Csango associations have recently brought out a plan of action to safeguard their rights. The Csangos consider the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (DAHR) as their legitimate representative. On the other side their associations remain critical of DAHR because of a lack of a more precise support.

The Council of Europe in one of its documents recommends the Committee of Ministers to encourage Romania to ratify and implement the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. It also emphasizes that the census in early 2002 will be an important moment for the Csangos to give the current demographic index of the group.

Sources:

1. “Csango minority culture in Romania”, Report of the Committee on Culture, Science and Education; Reporter: Mrs. Tytti Isohookana-Asunmaa, Finland, Liberal, Democratic and Reformers' Group; Council of Europe

2. News from web site Eurolang, http://www.eurolang.net/

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Updated (May 2002)

Starting March 18, 2002 Romania carried out a census of its population. The event was organized under the slogan “Count yourself to be one of us!” The final results of the census are expected in June 2003; however, partial details will be announced in June 2002.

The event, which was organized with reference to United Nations' decisions on universal census projects, was aimed at determination the future of 17 minorities in the country, as well as the future of those communities that are endangered by assimilation. A recent recommendation (1521/2001) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, contained a considerable set of concrete propositions to stop full assimilation of the Csango minority group.

Article 8 of the governmental decision (680/2001) concerning the organization and development of the census, authorized non-governmental organizations to observe the implementation of the census procedure on different levels.

The census categories, which defined the ethnic belonging, were slightly misleading. For instance, the Hungarian speakers could register themselves as “Magyar, Hungarian or Secler”. The German speakers had to face the dilemma of identifying themselves as “German, Neamt, Saxon or Souabes”. However, the category concerning the Csangos remained undivided, ignoring earlier recommendations by civil society organizations and the warning of international institutions.

The atmosphere, however, was quite positive because last week a government order allowed minorities in Romania to use openly their symbols, which are the essential attributes of their values.

Source: Brussels March 18, 2002, by Emese Medgyesi, Eurolang

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Updated (November 2002)

HUNGARIAN LANGUAGE CLASSES FOR CSANGO PEOPLE

It seems that after many years of outspoken opposition Romanian authorities finally agree with Hungarian classes in some localities of Csango people from Bacau county (Eastern Romania). This decision was made at a meeting between the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR) leaders and the representatives of the governing party PSD in May 2002.

UDMR's chairman, Marko Bela, stated that the conditions are fulfilled to start some groups even this autumn. The education program will be presented by the county inspectorate to the Ministry of Education in order to get the necessary approvals. The protocol was signed to improve the condition of Hungarian Csango community.

Source: Minelres Archive, No. 6-7, May 12, 2002; Bacau

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Updated (November 2003)

A SURVEY REVEALS MASSIVE INTOLERANCE AND PREJUDICE IN ROMANIA

An opinion poll on intolerance and extremism in Romania, conducted in September 2003 at the request of the Public Politics Institute (IPP), is the very first one of this kind and it is a part of the project called “Extremism in Romania.” In this poll 1,500 adult respondents were asked about their attitude towards ethnic minorities and immigrants.

Though nationalism and intolerance were not found to be the main factors influencing people's electoral options, prejudice still exists in the country. This statement is based on the fact that 30 percent of people agreed that “Romanians should not mix with other nations” and 13 percent agreed that “people of a different ethnicity than Romanian should leave Romania.”

Almost 1,400¹ respondents were ethnic Romanians and they revealed a strong emotional identification with their country and with their mother tongue when 98 percent of them liked the Romanian language.

From 1,405 people who were not ethnic Hungarians, 25 percent completely disagreed that the state should finance education in Hungarian for Hungarian-speaking children and 21 percent were more or less against it. Altogether 81.1 (59+22.1) percent were either “totally” or “quite” against ethnic Hungarians using their mother tongue in the contacts with the local administration, even if they constitute the majority in a certain area.

The Romanians were suspicious that the interests of the ethnic Hungarians are different than those of the rest of the population. Seventy-six percent believed that many Hungarians speak Romanian, but they avoid using it. They disagreed with more autonomy to those counties where ethnic Hungarians live and assumed that Hungarians want Transylvania to become a part of Hungary again. Twenty-six percent were of the opinion that ethnic Hungarians should move to Hungary.

It is evident that the atmosphere in Romania is influenced by frustration and distrust of the institutions, when the majority of respondents believed in inevitability of more totalitarian measures (22 percent would agree with a military regime and 33 percent could imagine the state with only one political party).

Source: Eurolang News, Kolozsvár/Cluj, October 29, 2003, by Áron Balló, http://217.136.252.147/webpub/eurolang/pajenn.asp?ID=4460

¹ 1,384

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Updated (January 2004)

NEW ETHNIC HUNGARIAN POLL OUT IN ROMANIA

Between October 10 and 24, 2003, the Transylvanian Interethnic Relationships Research Center (CCRIT) based in Cluj/Kolozsvár made a survey on the ethnic Hungarians living in Romania. The survey was commissioned by the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ) and its aim was to gather reliable information on the Hungarian speaking community, as the year 2004 is an electoral year in Romania.

Concerning language and minority rights, 7.2 percent of those polled considered the problem to use a mother tongue in the courts to be the one with the highest priority. More than eight percent supported the autonomy of the ethnic Hungarians in Romania.

According to the results, the RMDSZ should solve the following problems: the use of a mother tongue in the courts (26.4 percent), setting up of Hungarian-language faculties at the Babe°-Bolyai University in Kolozsvár (20.3 percent), and the implementation of the revised Constitution (13.3 percent).

Those surveyed appreciated the contribution of the RMDSZ towards placing bilingual public signs (70.6 percent), strengthening of minority rights in the Constitution (54 percent), applying of the Hungarian Status Law in Romania (51.5 percent), restitution of church properties (47 percent), opening of the Hungarian-language Sapientia University (45.3 percent) and amending of the Law on Education in favor of minority language use (35.9 percent).

For various reasons, 11.4 percent of the ethnic Hungarians said that they would leave Romania.

Source: Eurolang News, Kolozsvár/Cluj, December 19, 2003, by Áron Balló, http://217.136.252.147/webpub/eurolang/pajenn.asp?ID=4551

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