Ethnic Hungarians in Romania celebrate National Day

Ethnic Hungarians in Romania celebrate, today, their National Day. Events are scheduled to take place in Bucharest and other cities in Transylvania.

Main events – commemorating 170 years since the 1848 Hungarian Revolution - will take place this afternoon in Satu Mare, where alongside local authorities and other special guests, Hungarian Ambassador to Romania Zákonyi Botond and UDMR leader Kelemen Hunor will be also present.

Participants will gather in the Heroes of the Revolution Square in Satu Mare, starting with 16:45, where they will lay wreaths at the statue of poet Petöfi Sándor. There will be parades of Hungarians wearing Hussar uniforms, heading towards the Freedom Square.

A ceremony commemorating and unveiling the statue of Count István Széchenyi - a personality of Hungarian politics – will also take place.

Hungarian Day is also celebrated through a series of events in municipalities of other counties in the northwest and west of Romania - Sălaj, Bihor and Arad.

Message of the Romanian Prime Minister

Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă has sent a message on the occasion of the Hungarian Day, saying that this day is an occasion to celebrate the Hungarian community in Romania and the mutual relations of good coexistence, developed over the last decades.

Prime Minister reminds that in today's Europe, ethnic differences must be a source of mutual respect and understanding, and Romania supports the principle of "unity in diversity".

Elections in Hungary

In Hungary, the events marking 170 years since the beginning of the 1848 Revolution are expected to have a pronounced electoral character in the run-up to parliamentary elections in a few weeks.

Supporters of the ruling Fidesz Party will take part in a march on the streets of Budapest, before gathering in front of the Parliament to listen to the Hungarian Prime Minister's speech.

Several left-wing opposition parties have called their supporters in another location in Budapest, where leaders of the respective formations will also address speeches. A separate event has been announced by the Jobbik Party.

Given that the 15th of March is a National Holiday Day in Hungary, traffic for trucks is restricted today, on Hungarian territory, until 22:00 (23:00 Romanian time). (RRA Correspondent in Hungary, Emil Groza, reporting from Budapest).

Source:RRA.Translated by Miruna Matei