Victor Ponta “We have the highest standards in Europe in terms of minority representation and autonomy of local structures. If anyone tries to run an election campaign in Romania, I want you to be very firm about it, without getting ourselves caught in any traps. But I think no one is in a position to tell us what flags to raise.”

Invited to an emergency discussion at the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the Ambassador of Hungary to Bucharest, Oszkar Fuzes said this is not a diplomatic scandal or a snare planned by Hungary against Romania. The Hungarian diplomat believes the display of identity symbols by any minority is a natural act. The State Secretary with the Romanian Foreign Ministry Bogdan Aurescu however argues that the Hungarian official’s call for the raising of “Szeckler flags” translates as an explicit support for territorial autonomy on ethnic criteria, which is against the Constitution of Romania and is not part of the accepted European standards for the protection of national minorities.

Meanwhile, the Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean accused the Hungarian diplomat of breaking the diplomatic rules with such statements, and warned him that his term in office might come to an early end. Bucharest sees the statements of the Hungarian officials as coming against the strategic partnership between Romania and Hungary, and will not accept any interference that comes against the Constitution of Romania. Consequently, Bucharest calls on Budapest to put an end to initiatives like the raising of the so-called “Szeckler flag” on Hungarian town halls, in solidarity with the Hungarian ethnics in Romania and their autonomy aspirations.