Budapest Diplomatic Dilemmas

The recent statements by a state secretary with the Hungarian foreign ministry, according to which the Hungarian minority in Romania was subject to a symbolic aggression because the Szeckler flags are not raised, prompted firm reactions in Bucharest.

The Foreign Ministry and Prime Minister Victor Ponta have defined the statements as unacceptable.

The Prime Minister of Romania criticised the statements of the Hungarian official, and emphasised that Romania would neither give in to provocative statements, nor accept being preached to from across the border.

Victor Ponta “We have the highest standards in Europe in terms of minority representation and autonomy of local structures.

If anyone tries to run an election campaign in Romania, I want you to be very firm about it, without getting ourselves caught in any traps. But I think no one is in a position to tell us what flags to raise.”

Invited to an emergency discussion at the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the Ambassador of Hungary to Bucharest, Oszkar Fuzes said this is not a diplomatic scandal or a snare planned by Hungary against Romania.

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