A flag quarrel recently ignited between Romania and Hungary, after the unofficial flag of the Secuiesc region, or Székely Land was flown at the investiture ceremony for the new Covasna county prefect. The Székely region in Romania, an area in Romania's Transylvania region inhabited by a Hungarian majority, has been lobbying for autonomy, and a recent statement by a Hungarian official further fueled the issue. The state secretary of Hungary's Foreign Affairs Ministry, Nemeth Zsolt said that Hungarians from Transylvania are subjected to a symbolic aggression and asked all mayors in Hungary to display the Székely region flag. The flag was already flown in one of Budapest's districts.

Zsolt's response and explanation for the flag issue in Romania's Covasna – a county that is also part of the Székely region – was that displaying the flag was in solidarity with the autonomy lobby. He also called the refusal of Romania authorities to show the unofficial flag of the Székely region an aggression, and asked the Romanian Government to put an end to this symbolic aggression against the Hungarian minority in Transylvania.

The unofficial flag issue stems back to November 2012, when the court decided it is legal to use this flag in Covasna. In January 2013, the president of the Covasna county council, Tamas Sandor, asked mayors in Sfantu Gheorghe and Targu Secuiesc to fly the unofficial Székely land flag in front of their city halls, “because the Székely land is our heart,” said Sandor.

Nemeth Zsolt and the Hungarian vice – Prime Minister Semjen Zsolt are among known and open supporters of the autonomy of the Székely land in Romania, an issue which has been creating bad blood between the two countries.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Wikipedia)