Romania: Current treatment of ethnic Hungarians and state protection available to them (1999-August 2000)

General Situation

The last census conducted in 1992 puts the number of ethnic Hungarians in Romania at 1.6 million or 7.1 per cent of the total population (Government Office for Hungarian Minorities Abroad n.d.; IND Sept. 1999). According to the IND Country Assessment on Romania and Minorities at Risk Project (MAR), the actual number could reach two million (ibid.; MAR 7 Aug. 1999). According to data estimates provided by the Budapest-based Government Office for Hungarian Minorities Abroad[1] , Romanian citizens whose mother tongue is Hungarian would number more than 1.8 million (n.d.). A high death rate (except in the Szekler Region, central Romania) and emigration are two factors contributing to the decrease of Romania's Hungarian speaking population since 1945 (ibid.). The number of ethnic Hungarians who have left Romania since the 1970s is estimated at 100,000 (ibid.).

The majority of ethnic Hungarians in Romania live in Transylvania, a region located in western Romania which covers approximately 103,000 km2 (ibid.). Transylvania's ethnic Hungarians, who amount for 20 per cent of the population of the region, are scattered as follows:

– 35-37 per cent in the Szekler region (central Romania, including the counties of Harghita, Covasna, Mures), with a proportion of ethnic Romanians of no more than 12-15 per cent ;

– approximately 28 per cent along the 400 km-long Romanian-Hungarian border (including the counties of Satu Mare, Bihor, Arad and Timis);

– 16-18 per cent in Central Transylvania;

– 18-20 per cent in a "multi-ethnic diapora" (ibid.).

The proportion of ethnic Hungarians in Transylvania's population has been decreasing, in particular in Central Transylvania and in the region along the Hungarian-Romanian border, as a result of a 70-year long state policy aimed at relocating ethnic Romanians in the region subjected to industrialization (ibid.). Cities such as Cluj, Oradea, Satu Mare, Baia Mare, Aiud, Turda and Zalău, some of them described as "Hungarian cultural centres", saw the proportion of ethnic Romanians increase and in some cases exceed 50 per cent (ibid.). Since 1989, the decrease in the proportion of ethnic Hungarians in Transylvania has been slowing down (ibid.). In 1992, Transylvania counted 175 "settlements" in which more than half of the inhabitants were ethnic Hungarians (ibid.).

Communities of ethnic Hungarians can also be found outside of Transylvania, in particular in Bucharest and in Moldavia (eastern Romania) where they are called "Csángó" (ibid.).

A US-sponsored survey conducted by the Interethnic Relations Research Center between 19 May 2000 and 1 June 2000, reveals that the high degree of tolerance existing between the Romanian and Hungarian communities in Transylvania and their wish to cooperate in a democratic environment have kept the relations between both communities from worsening (NATMINET 7 July 2000). Following are some results of the survey:

– 64.2 per cent of ethnic Romanians and more than 70 per cent of ethnic Hungarians think that the relations between both communities have improved or remained the same since 1989;

– in Transylvania, the Romanian region with the highest proportion of ethnic Hungarians, almost 50 per cent of ethnic Hungarians consider their relations with ethnic Romanians to be 'the same', 'better' and 'much better' than before 1989, while 33 per cent of ethnic Hungarians speak of "situation of conflict" between both communities;

– 12.7 per cent of ethnic Hungarians and 2 per cent of ethnic Romanians believe that there is a conflict between them in the region where they live;

– 87.5 per cent of ethnic Romanians and 94.2 per cent of ethnic Hungarians support the ban of broadcasts and publications inciting ethnic hatred (ibid.).

Another survey conducted by the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) shows that 52 per cent of ethnic Romanians have "good" feelings towards ethnic Hungarians while 41 per cent have "bad" feelings (Rompres 14 Apr. 2000a).

According to Zsolt Nemeth, state secretary of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry and Laszlo Toekes, Protestant bishop, both participating in a 20 April 2000 forum on Hungarian-Romanian relations in Budapest, there has not been any significant and fundamental change in the situation of Romania's Hungarian minority over the last decade (Romanian Radio 21 Apr. 2000). Both also acknowledged some political achievements in favour of the Hungarian minority, although "it also missed a lot of opportunities" (ibid.). The state secretary noted that "nationalist incitement" disappeared in Romania (ibid.).

While celebrating the anniversary of the 1848 revolutions in Tirgu Mures (northwestern Romania), the UDMR chair Bela Marko stated that there had been progress in the conditions of Romania's Hungarian minority (RFE/RL 16 Mar. 2000). However, he asked for more to be done, in particular with respect to the free use of the Hungarian language, "the right to independent decision-making" and autonomy (ibid.).

However, Hungarian Radio reported that a joint statement adopted by representatives of nine civil organizations from Transylvania gathered in Budapest included a claim that ethnic Hungarians are being forced to either emigrate or assimilate by the authorities of the "surrounding countries" [including Romania] since the early 1990s (Hungarian Radio 16 July 2000).

Legal Status

Describing how the Romanian Constitution and the legislation address the question of minorities, the Government Office for Hungarian Minorities Abroad stated the following:

The Constitution, adopted in 1991 and confirmed by a referendum, declares Romania to be a nation state whose official language is the Romanian language. The Constitution lies down several fundamental minority rights, such as the right of ethnic identity (Art. 6), the right of native-language education (Art.32), the right of parliamentary representation (Art.59), and the right to use the native language in court proceedings (Art.127). However, the exercise of these minority rights is not sufficiently guaranteed in practice due to inadequate or lacking legal regulation. The parties in power between 1991 and 1996, while upholding the possibility of the political handling of the minority issue, did not seek to create the necessary legislative framework for this task.

Since 1991, Romania's national minorities have been calling for the adoption of a minority law. The political representation of the Hungarian national community, the DAHR submitted in 1993 the text of a concrete draft. The government of that time failed to deal with the proposal despite the fact that upon Romania's 1993 admission as a member of the Council of Europe, the Council's Parliamentary Assembly had stipulated such an obligation which Romania also promised to fulfil. Even though the Victor Ciorbea-led government and the next Radu Vasile-led cabinet pledged to draft a minority law by September 1997 and December 1998, respectively, this has not happened to this day.

...

International and bilateral agreements signed by Romania can only partially substitute for the shortcomings of domestic legislation. Among the Council of Europe's documents on minority protection,

Romania ratified in 1997 the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, while the ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, signed by Romania in the same year, is still under way. The 1996 Romanian-Hungarian State Treaty lies down the rights needed to protect minority identity and the general principles of related state policy policies. It also validates additional international documents, such as the 1992 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of National, Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, the Copenhagen Document adopted by the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, and Recommendation No.1201 (1993) of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly.

Even though the Constitution recognizes that the international documents signed and ratified by Romania take precedence over domestic laws, their implementation in practice is contradictory and the exercise of the rights contained in these documents is often not possible (n.d.).

Education

After meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, UDMR chair Marko Bela indicated that there had been no agreement on the establishment of a state university offering courses in Hungarian, although the Hungarian government had always supported Romania's ethnic Hungarians in their efforts to achieve their education in Hungarian (Rompres 14 Apr. 2000b). The Hungarian government is also said to have provided financial assistance for the foundation of a private university teaching in Hungarian (ibid.).

Several sources make references to a new Law on Education which came into effect on 3 August 1999, which includes provisions dealing with the education of members of national minorities (Rompres 13 Aug. 1999; IHF-HR 1 June 2000, 306; Government Office for Hungarian Minorities Abroad n.d.). The IHF-HR provides the following comments:

Article 123 had been the focus of a lengthy struggle led by the Hungarian minority to establish multicultural universities upon request. According to the article, groups, sections, colleges and faculties with tuition provided in the minority mother tongue could be organized upon request within state-owned higher education institutions. In such cases, specialized terminology was to be taught in Romanian.

Multicultural higher education institutions could be established upon request, according to the law. Tuition languages could be established in the founding statutes of these institutions.

The fact that the parliament turned down the persistent request to establish a Hungarian higher education institution represented, however, the victory of an anti-minority attitude. APADOR-CH noted that the interpretation of article 27 of the ICCPR in the Romanian framework should have obliged the Romanian authorities to comply with the request of the Hungarian minority.

The law also recognizes the right of Hungarian churches to set up private schools, although the UDMR council mentioned that there was no explicit guarantee on financing from the state budget of non-religious schools created and managed by legal religious groups (Rompres 13 Aug. 1999). The Council also noted that the law did not guarantee the study of Romania's history and geography in Hungarian at any educational level (ibid.).

The 1999 Law on Education replaced a previous act which had come into effect in 1995 (Government Office for Hungarian Minorities Abroad n.d.). The law was said to restrict education in minority languages and "church education", by recognizing the "supremacy" of the Romanian language and culture, and the collective rights of the ethnic Romanians (ibid.). In 1997, the Romanian government adopted a decree which repealed the provisions of the Law on Education considered to be "anti-minority" (ibid.).

On 11 September 1999, the Patrium Christian University for ethnic Hungarians opened its doors in Oradea (northwestern Romania). Consisting of religious and non-religious faculties, the institution will offer courses to around 700 students (RFE/RL 14 Sept. 1999). The Romanian Education Minister Andrei Marga was unaware of this event and of the fact that private donors and the Hungarian government were funding the institution (ibid.).

Language

With regard to language, a US-sponsored survey conducted between 19 May 2000 and 1 June 2000 shows that 75 per cent of the Hungarian community speak Romanian fluently or almost fluently (NATMINET 7 July 2000). In towns with a minority, almost 60 per cent of the Romanian community speak Hungarian fluently or almost fluently (ibid.). 63 per cent of the Romanians approve of the people who have learnt Hungarian to speak with their relatives and neighbours while 98 per cent of the Hungarian community support the idea of speaking Romanian (ibid.). 81 per cent of the ethnic Hungarians believe that Romanian citizens of Hungarian background "must" speak Romanian (ibid.).

In 1994, the new public administration law introduced the "exclusive" use of the Romanian language in the Romanian public administration (Government Office for Hungarian Minorities Abroad n.d.). In 1997, the government adopted a decree which stipulated that national minority languages could be used in state institutions located in settlements whose minority (-ies) amount(s) for more than 20 per cent of the local population (ibid.). The implementation of the decree is deemed "hindered" in the Government Office for Hungarian Minorities Abroad report (ibid.).

A bill which would amend a provision of the Law on Local Public Administration dealing with the languages used by the local administration was the object of a discussion in the Romanian parliament (IHF-HR 1 June 2000, 306). Future discussions were expected to address the question of "the percentage of minority population in a locality that mandates the use of that minority's mother tongue in their relationship with the local authorities" (ibid.).

The Hungarian language was said to be among the languages of the seven national minorities which is used in the pre-academic educational institutions of Romania (Rompres 18 Nov. 1999). According to the Romanian Ministry of Education, 2,914 such institutions are available for Hungarian children (ibid.).

Religion

With respect to religion, 800,000 ethnic Hungarians were said to be Catholic (Rompres 10 Sept. 1999). On 9 September 1999, the Romanian government adopted a new bill on religious denominations which guarantees "equal treatment of all denominations by the state" (ibid.). However, the construction of several Orthodox churches in areas populated with ethnic Hungarians have reportedly aroused concerns among them of being "repress[ed]" or "expell[ed]" by the authorities, although the Romanian government and the Orthodox Church "strongly" rejected this suggestion (The Washington Post 11 Feb. 2000). According to Joszef Baliant-Pataki, head of the Romania section of the Budapest-based Office for Hungarian Minorities Abroad:

There is a fever of construction of Orthodox churches in almost entirely Hungarian areas. ... Our feeling is that the ultimate goal is to change the ethnic makeup, and this has always been the strategic goal of the Romanian government. I cannot find any other explanations for these churches (ibid.).

The Washington Post reports that many of these new churches were being built in areas which already had Orthodox churches lacking parishioners, while Orthodox dioceses in the rest of Romania did not receive any funds to build "urgently" needed churches (ibid.). Although the Romanian government claims that it proportionally allocates funds to every religious group on the basis of the 1992 census, Marko Attila, Director of Legislation in the State Department for National Minorities said that his department was granting a "disproportionate" share of funds to the Orthodox Church (ibid.). According to the Nicolae Brinzea, Romania's Secretary for Religion, the Orthodox Church received US$85,000 in 1999 from the government for construction in Covasna and Harghita counties – two counties with a Hungarian majority (ibid.). The Secretary admitted that the local Catholic and Protestant congregations had been given a "much smaller" amount (ibid.). In the case of Chilieni near Sfintu Gheorge (central Romania), the government allocated US$20,000 to the local Orthodox Church to repair and maintain its premises, while the its Catholic and Protestant counterparts received nothing (ibid.).

With respect to the return of nationalized church properties, the Budapest-based Government Office for Hungarian Minorities Abroad indicates that the Romanian government had not addressed the question of "Hungarian historic churches" nationalized properties until after the 1996 elections, when it adopted two "emergency" decrees (n.d.). However, these decrees led to the return of a few properties, although they provided for the restitution of "community and church properties to the Hungarians" (ibid.).

Political Participation

The last local elections that took place in late June 2000 saw the UDMR win in five out of 16 counties in Transylvania, where ethnic Hungarians amount for 23 per cent of the population (RFE/RL 23 June 2000). The UDMR got the majority in two counties of the same region (ibid.). In Targu Mures (northwestern Romania), a city with a large Hungarian minority, the incumbent ethnic Hungarian mayor was narrowly defeated by a Romanian candidate (ibid.), while in Cluj-Napoca (northwestern Romania), the incumbent mayor Gheorghe Funar, described as an "extreme nationalist", was re-elected as a result of a run-off in which he competed with a Romanian candidate also supported by the 21 per cent strong Hungarian community of the city (ibid.).

On 10 January 2000, the Romanian Radio reported that Prime Minister Mugur Isarescu appointed Gyula Bara, an ethnic Hungarian, to the function of state counsellor in charge of issues in connection with the labour force market, unemployment, pension system and health care following a recommendation from the UDMR. Between December 1996 and December 1998, Mr. Bara was Secretary of State with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, and then became state counsellor under former Prime Minister Radu Vasile (Romanian Radio 10 January 2000). Mr. Bara has also been a member of the National Health Insurance Administration Council since December 1998 (ibid.).

Demonstrations

According to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, there were "anti-Hungarian" demonstrations in Tirgu Mures (northwestern Romania) after voters elected an ethnic Romanian as the new mayor in late June 2000 (Hungarian TV2 22 June 2000). Two days after the election, a statue of the former chief judge of Tirgus Mures, which had yet to be unveiled, was set on fire (ibid.). Condemning the incident, the new mayor ruled out an "anti-Hungarian" dimension and stated that "special measures" had been taken by the gendarmerie to find the perpetrators (ibid.). He committed himself to preventing this type of incident, which is "not characteristic of our city" (ibid.). On 22 June 2000, Tirgu Mures was honoured by the European Union in recognition of the local tolerance between ethnic communities (ibid.).

On the eve of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's visit to Bucharest on 14 April 2000, some Romanian political parties, including the Social Democratic Party of Romania (PDSR), the main opposition party, and some cultural organizations held a demonstration in Sfintu Gheorge (central Romania) protesting against the policies of ethnic Hungarian mayors (MTI 14 Apr. 2000). In particular, the group of approximately 500 ethnic Romanians coming from all regions of Romania denounced Almos Albert, Sfintu Gheorge's mayor of Hungarian origin (ibid.). Their demands included the use by the city council of Romanian as the only official language, respect for "Romanian national symbols" and measures to discourage the distribution of "revisionist and irredentist publications" from Hungary (ibid.). The PDSR asked the Supreme Defense Council, the Romanian Intelligence Service, the Ministry of the Interior and the Justice Ministry to investigate the work of ethnic Hungarian civil servants in Harghita and Covasna counties (ibid.), two mainly Hungarian populated counties (RFE/RL 14 Apr. 2000). The PDSR claimed that the latter were trying to "hungarianise" both counties (MTI 14 Apr. 2000).

On 13 April 2000, about 1,000 ethnic Romanians gathered in Sfintul (Sfantu) Gheorghe to protest the "discriminatory policies" that the local council was said to have implemented vis-à-vis the Romanian community and the "discrimination" that the ethnic Romanians claimed they were facing in Harghita and Covasna (RFE/RL 14 Apr. 2000; Rompres 14 Apr. 2000a). The protesters consisted of ethnic Romanian mayors, Christian Orthodox priests, war veterans, leaders of several Romanian cultural Christian associations and officials of the local branches of political parties (ibid.). Sfintul Gheorghe mayor Albert Almos, of Hungarian background, claimed that his policies were not "anti-Romanian" in a meeting with the demonstrators (RFE/RL 14 Apr. 2000). The PDSR deputy chair expressed his support for the demonstrators and appealed to all political actors in Romania to "concentrate on working out a legislative system to sanction the autonomy-oriented, separatist actions" (Rompres 14 Apr. 2000a).

In Targu (Tirgu) Mures (northwestern Romania), the local prosecutor interrogated Imre Fodor, the Hungarian mayor of the city, suspecting him of "abusing his office" (RFE/RL 14 Apr. 2000). According to Elod Kincses, the chair of the local UDMR branch, this interrogation was connected with a "plan" to stop the mayor from participating in the forthcoming local elections (ibid.).

On 2 March 2000, UDMR chair Bela Marko noted a "strengthening of xenophobia, ultra-nationalism and anti-Hungarian rhetoric ... in Romanian political life" (Romanian Radio 3 Mar. 2000). There is also a reference to "extremist manifestations" observed during the pre-election campaign in early 2000 (ibid.).

In Cluj-Napoca (or Kolozsvar in Hungarian, northwestern Romania), posters voicing opposition to the establishment in the city of a branch of a church-funded Hungarian university with Hungary's support were affixed to the wall of the local UDMR offices according to a 2 March 2000 Hungarian Radio dispatch. The heading of the Christian Nationalist Club of Kolozsvar was on the posters (ibid.). Officials of the local UDMR branch reported the incident to the police (ibid.). Earlier in 2000, Cluj-Napoca's mayor, described as "anti-Hungarian", had been willing to have the city council forbid the establishment of the branch (ibid.). No additional information could be found on this ban in the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

On 6 October 1999, a commemoration of the 13 generals of the 1848-49 Hungarian revolution against the Austrians was held at the Catholic Church of Arad (western Romania) which was attended by around 1,000 ethnic Hungarians, Hungarian high officials and the Arad County Prefect representing the Romanian government (Radio Romania Network 6 Oct. 1999). At the same time, about a hundred people were protesting in front of the church, chanting "anti-Hungarian" slogans (ibid.). Romanian security forces were dispatched on the spot and kept the protestors at bay (ibid.).

Commenting on a billboard reading "here is the Hungarian spy nest" posted in front of the Hungarian Consulate General in Cluj-Napoca, Gheorghe Funar, Cluj-Napoca's mayor, stated that this act was a legal way of informing the population that the newly-appointed consul general, Laszlo Alfoldi, had been involved in a "diplomatic scandal", declared 'persona non grata' and expelled from Romania in 1988 (Radio Romania Network 17 Sept. 1999).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Government Office for Hungarian Minorities Abroad [Budapest]. 30 August 2000. Correspondence from the Head of Documentation, Press and Information Department.

_____. N.d. The Situation of Hungarians in Romania. [Accessed 1Sept. 2000]

Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND), Home Office UK. September 1999. Romania Assessment. Version 4.

[Accessed 30 Aug. 2000]

Hungarian Radio [Budapest, in Hungarian]. 16 July 2000. "Transylvanian Hungarians Concerned over Impact of Hungary's EU Entry." (BBC Monitoring 17 July 2000/Central Europe Online)

_____. 2 March 2000. "Posters Protest again Planned Hungarian University." (BBC Summary 4 Mar. 2000/NEXIS)

_____. 15 May 1999. "Romania: Hungarian Leader Calls for Treaty Clause Banning Autonomy to Be Dropped." (BBC Monitoring 15 May 1999/NEXIS)

Hungarian TV2 [Budapest, in Hungarian]. 22 June 2000. "Spokesman Urges Measures Against Anti-Hungarian Actions in Romania." (BBC Summary 26 June 2000/NEXIS)

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF-HR) [Vienna]. 1 June 2000. Human Rights in the OSCE Region: The Balkans, the Caucasus, Europe. Central Asia, North America, Report 2000.

[Accessed 24 Aug. 2000]

Minorities at Risk Project (MAR) [College Park, MD]. 7 August 1999. Magyars (Hungarians) in Romania.

[Accessed 29 Aug. 2000]

MTI [Budapest, in English]. 14 April 2000. "Anti-Hungarian Protest in Romania - Hungarian Report." (BBC Monitoring 14 Apr. 2000/NEXIS)

NATMINET. 7 July 2000. "New Survey on Inter-Ethnic Relations." ([email protected])

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) Newsline [Prague]. 23 June 2000. Vol. 4, No. 122, Part II. Zsolt-Istvan Mato. "Transylvania's Local Elections Show Nationalism is Strong Factor." ([email protected])

_____. 14 April 2000. Vol. 4, No. 75, Part II. "Transylvania Makes Headlines in Romania Again." ([email protected])

_____. 16 March 2000. Vol. 4, No. 54, Part II. "Ethnic Hungarian Party Criticizes Romanian Minority Policies." ([email protected])

_____. 14 September 1999. Vol. 3, No. 179, Part II. "Hungarian Christian University Inaugurated in Romania." ([email protected])

Radio Romania Network [Bucharest, in Hungarian]. 6 October 1999. "Crowd Chants Anti-Hungarian Slogans During Arad Ceremony." (FBIS-EEU-1999-1006 10 Oct. 1999/WNC)

_____. 17 September 1999. "Anti-Hungarian Message Posted in Cluj." (FBIS-EEU-1999-0917 21 Sept. 1999/WNC)

Romanian Radio [Timisoara, in Hungarian]. 21 April 2000. "Officials Say no Improvement in Life of Ethnic Hungarians of Romania." (BBC Summary 24 Apr. 2000/NEXIS)

_____. 16 March 2000. "Romanian Mayor Objects to Ethnic Hungarian Celebration in Transylvania." (BBC Monitoring 16 Mar. 2000/NEXIS).

_____. 3 March 2000. "Romania: Ethnic Hungarian Party Leader Concerned about Xenophobia." (BBC Monitoring 4 Mar. 2000/NEXIS)

_____. 10 January 2000. "Romania: Ethnic Hungarian Politician Appointed Counsellor." (BBC Monitoring 10 Jan. 2000/NEXIS)

Rompres [Bucharest, in English]. 14 April 2000a. "Ethnic Romanians Protest Against Covasna Local Authorities." (FBIS-EEU-2000-0414 17 Apr. 2000/WNC)

_____. 14 April 2000b. "Romania: Ethnic Hungarian Head Slams Failure to Set Up Hungarian University." (BBC Monitoring 14 Apr. 2000/NEXIS)

_____. 18 Nov. 1999. "Pre-College Education in National Minorities' Language." (FBIS-EEU-1999-1118 22 Nov. 1999/WNC)

_____. 10 September 1999. "Romanian Government Decides all Churches to Be Treated Equally." (BBC Worldwide 10 Sept. 1999/NEXIS)

_____. 13 August 1999. "Ethnic Hungarian Party Assesses Romania's Education Law." (BBC Monitoring 13 Aug. 1999/NEXIS)

_____. 15 May 1999. "Romanian Practises Ethnic "Homogenization" - Hungarian Party Official." (BBC Summary 18 May 1999/NEXIS)

The Washington Post. 11 February 2000. Peter Finn. "A Matter of Orthodox Church and State; Building Program Alarms Romania's Ethnic Hungarians." (NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases

LEXIS/NEXIS

Internet sites including:

Amnesty International (AI)

The Balkans Human rights Web Pages

Balkan Information Exchange

British Helsinki Human Rights Group (BHHRG)

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999.

Le courrier des Balkans

European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)

European Research Center on Migration and Ethnic Relations (ERCOMER)

Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l'homme (FIDH)

Freedom in the World 1999-2000

Human Rights Watch (HRW)

Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative (LGI)

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)

1. In correspondence dated 30 August 2000, the Head of the Documentation, Press and Information Department of the Budapest-based Government Office for Hungarian Minorities Abroad indicated that the Hungarian version of the report, The Situation of Hungarians in Romania, had been published in June 2000, while the English version would be released in September 2000.