War of words continues between Hungarian and Romanian

MTI, Politics.hu
March 18

Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom on Wednesday rejected a charge by his Romanian counterpart Traian Basescu that he had not respected Romania's constitution.

In a television interview on Tuesday, Basescu accused Solyom of failing to respect the Romanian constitution. The Romanian president said that Hungarian officials were welcomed in his country but none of them should make any statement incompatible with the Romanian constitution.

Referring to the interview, Solyom said on Wednesday that whenever he speaks about the rights of Hungarian communities beyond the border, he always expresses endeavours that comply with the European norms and practices and are compatible with the constitutional order of the given country.

Solyom was to travel to Targu Mures, a city in western Romania's Transylvania region inhabited by many ethnic Hungarians to attend celebrations on March 15, Hungary's national holiday. The Romanian authorities, however, withdrew the landing permit of his plane so the president had to bring forward his visit by one day and travel to Transylvania by car.

Hungarian Foreign Affairs Spokesman Lajos Szelestey said earlier today that the two countries should step beyond the problems related to Solyom's recent visit.

"In view of our ties within NATO and the EU, our good neighbourly relations and the minorities living in both countries, we say now that we should look ahead, and try to find the opportunities for further cooperation," he said.

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March 15 in Budapest

Radical nationalist Magyar Garda inducts 650 new members

Budapest Times March 15

The Magyar Garda, a radical nationalist movement, inducted 650 new members at an event attended by its supporters in Budapest's Heroes' Square on Sunday afternoon. Gabor Vona, the founding chairman of the Magyar Garda and head of the Jobbik party, said the movement's members would "write a new chapter in Hungarian history". Lorant Hegedus Jr, a priest of the Reform Church, said in a speech that the government was the "darkest and dirtiest in world history" and was sending a "breed which hides under the subculture to attack the Hungarian people." Magyar Garda Captain General Robert Kiss said guard members embodied "Hungary's living conscience". Police set up a double cordon around the square and around 1,500 people stood around the cordon holding Magyar Garda flags and red and white Arpad-striped flags, associated with Hungary's WWII Nazi regime. Several hundred riot police stood alert in the area. Police also checked some of the supporters' IDs. The Magyar Garda was registered as an organisation to "protect the country's heritage and culture" in June 2007 with the aim to establish "the framework for national defence". The first 56 members of the movement were inducted in August 2007. In December last year, a Budapest court ruled that the organisation must be disbanded, a ruling which the Magyar Garda is in the process of appealing. Radical nationalist Jobbik party holds rally in C Budapest Over 4,000 supporters of the radical nationalist Jobbik party gathered in Budapest's downtown Deak Square on Sunday afternoon, to mark Hungary's March 15 national holiday. Krisztina Morvai, who is leading the party's list for the upcoming European Parliamentary elections, said her party would make every effort to "regain national assets illicitly given away" and added that all laws should be abolished that "granted privileges to foreigners to the detriment of Hungarians." Morvai, calling Hungary's government a "gang of robbers" also said that loans taken from the International Monetary Fund and other international banks were to be considered as repaid and Hungary would not make any further payments in debt service. After the rally, police called on a crowd of some 1,500 people, who stayed, to disperse. MTI's on-site correspondent reported that riot police were trying to force the crowd, many of whom were wearing masks, to leave. Water cannons were also deployed in the area.