Hungary’s foreign minister Péter Szijjártó has let it be known how dim a view the government in Budapest looked upon the recent statements by Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis about ethnic Hungarians living in Szerklerland in central Romania. He called Iohannis’s statements provocative and warned they could foment ethnic intolerance. The president’s remarks followed the passage of a bill that would give the area of Szerklerland autonomy. The bill passed on a technicality because it had not been taken up in parliament for 45 days. Iohannis accused the opposition of conspiring with the small Hungarian party UDMR to give Transylvania back to Hungary. The bill’s passage didn’t prevent Romania’s Senate from rejecting it, but the fiasco has rekindled political tensions already on edge because of hardships sparked by the pandemic.
