FUEN Congress: Cluj-Napoca/Kolozsvár to become the European capital of minorities in May

The FUEN annual congress will be hosted by the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania, RMDSZ, in Cluj-Napoca (in Hungarian: Kolozsvár, in German: Klausenburg), between the 17th and the 21st of May. On April 20th, the RMDSZ president, Hunor Kelemen, and the FUEN president, Loránt Vincze, held a joint press conference in the host city to announce the event to the national and local press.

„The FUEN is our most important European partner when we strive to represent the interests of the Hungarian community in Romania on an international level. We do not only share the same ideas, but we also have the same goals, namely to obtain protection for autochthonous minorities on a European level.” – said President Hunor Kelemen. „I strongly believe that a divided EU is not sustainable in the long run. We cannot stand by and watch autochthonous minorities, communities that have lived in Eastern Europe for centuries, struggle while the issues of minorities in Western countries have been resolved decades ago.” – said the president of the RMDSZ.

He also pointed out that five years ago the RMDSZ, alongside the FUEN, was one of the originators of the Minority SafePack Initiative, which could, for the first time in the history of the EU, grant a EU-level protection for autochthonous minorities. At the beginning of April this year, the European Commission gave the green light for the MSPI, meaning that the initiators now have one year to gather one million signatures in order to call upon the EU to improve the protection of persons belonging to national and linguistic minorities and strengthen the cultural and linguistic diversity in the EU. We have an important role in this process – said Hunor Kelemen, announcing that the RMDSZ aims to gather 200,000 signatures in Romania.

Cluj-Napoca/Kolozsvár will become the European capital of minorities for a few days in May – announced the president of the FUEN, Loránt Vincze.  The main subjects that are to be addressed at the FUEN congress, to be held at the Grand Hotel Napoca, are linguistic rights, the protection of the cultural heritage of minorities, innovation and modernisation in minority communities and good practices of autonomy in Europe, the latter of which will be addressed in cooperation with the Glasgow University. The congress will also be the official starting point for the gathering of the one million signatures for the Minority SafePack Initiative.

Regarding the Minority SafePack Initiative Vincze stressed that in the upcoming year the challenge is not only to gather the necessary one million signatures but also to use this one-year period to build a strong and longstanding coalition for minority rights. It is thereby also the goal to obtain strong support from the majority communities across Europe, in order to assure success for the initiative. "We ask people belonging to a majority community to support our initiative and to sign as well. This will guarantee the autochthonous national minorities to feel safe and at home in Europe, which is a common interest for us all." – said Loránt Vincze.

He pointed out: we can sense a change in Europe in regards to how people see minority rights. This is proven by the fact that the president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani will be the patron of the event held on the 4th of May, the subject of which will be the Minority SafePack. The representatives of the German and the Danish state have both expressed their support for the initiative, and the European People’s Party has also assured us of their support during their congress held in Malta earlier in April.

„We opted for Cluj-Napoca, Kolozsvár to host the congress because the largest autochthonous national minority of Europe, the Hungarian community of Romania, regards it as their capital city. Kolozsvár will have a chance to be the minority capital of Europe for a few days. This will be a great opportunity for us to speak about the values, traditions and the issues of the Hungarian community living in Transylvania. The congress held here will be completing a cycle of the FUEN history, since our most important political project, the Minority SafePack has started its journey here, in Transylvania, at the initiative of the RMDSZ. The RMDSZ has been a defining member organisation of the FUEN for many years, and has offered guidance for the organisation.” – stated Vincze.

The President of Romania, the Foreign Affairs Minister of the country and the Minister of European Affairs have all been invited to the congress, since the aim of this event is to promote dialogue between minority and majority communities – said the president of the FUEN. He added: the delegates arriving to the congress, will be received by the Mayor Emil Boc. „The FUEN welcomes the decision of the mayor of Cluj-Napoca, Kolozsvár, Klausenburg to place trilingual signs at the entrances of the city, and it would be truly wonderful if the official ‘family portrait’ of the event could be taken near these trilingual signs” – he said.

200 delegates will be expected to join the congress from all across Europe. Besides the host, the RMDSZ, the Hungarian Civic Party of Romania and the organisation of the Aromanian community will be co-hosts of the event. The German Democratic Forum in Romania will also be present. The organisers of the congress will try to show the participants as much of Transylvania as possible. They will thus be taken to Bonchida, Tordaszentlászló, and the salt mine in Torda, and they will have a chance to see the traditions and culture of the minorities living in Transylvania. Before they leave, they will become ambassadors of Erdély.

The website of the FUEN congress can be accessed HERE. The Minority SafePack European Citizen’s Initiative can be found on the website of the European Commission in every official language of the European Union.