Diplomatic Scandal Broke Out Between Romania and Hungary

A diplomatic scandal broke out between Romania and Hungary after Budapest decided to withdraw its support for Romania's accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development because of the cessation of any activity of the Roman Catholic Lyceum in the Romanian city of Targu Mures, Mediafax reports. FET.

"Hungary considers Romania's decision as an attack to the Catholic Church, the Hungarian minority, which is a very hostile and very serious unfriendly step in Romania," Hungarian Foreign Ministry State Secretary Magyar Levente said.

Adzerpse reports that the Hungarian Foreign Ministry has called for consultations yesterday with the Romanian ambassador in Budapest, Marius Lazurka, in connection with the suspension of the lyceum.

For its part, the Romanian Foreign Ministry described Budapest's attitude as "totally inadequate, hostile and counterproductive."

A press release of the institution states that the Romanian authorities "seek to find solutions for the provision of intercultural dialogue aimed at promoting tolerance and good inter-ethnic cohabitation", but it is also stressed that each institution must comply with Romanian laws.

"The Romanian authorities are sorry for the transformation of this issue, which does not in any way affect the right to education of the Hungarian minority in Romania into a topic of the election campaign in Hungary," the statement said.

About 2500 people took part in a protest last night in Targu Mures against stopping the work of the lyceum. "The school year is starting, and students and parents do not know which school to go to," one of the participants in the protest said. The Ziar information site notes that the school was created in 2014 at the request of the Hungarian community and the Catholic Church.

The Mures County School Inspectorate argues that from a legal point of view, the Roman Catholic Lyceum in Targu Mures does not exist anymore after a final court decision. In November last year, prosecutors from the National Anti-Corruption Directorate detained the head of the County School Inspectorate in Mures County on charges of abuse of office, and the director of the Catholic Lyceum was also investigated for the misuse of office position.

Romanian Prime Minister Mihai Tudose said last night that he did not think that "the Hungarian state will play at such a level and that it is actually a wrong interpretation." "We have little problems before the elections in Hungary, we have done nothing to the two million Hungarian citizens in Romania, they have all the rights," the prime minister noted.

The Ziarul Financiar financial daily identifies the situation as an "unprecedented diplomatic blockade" and points out that Budapest is opposed to Romania's accession to the OECD, one of Bucharest's important projects, which, if implemented, could put the country in the interests of big world investors. Such a move by Hungary has been unprecedented in recent years, given that Romania has the support of Germany, and the United States, Britain and France are also not opposed to this move.

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