Romanian publicist and journalist Sabin Gherman is the author of a famous article published in 1998 in a Romanian-language newspaper in Kolozsvár/Cluj Napoca entitled “I’ve had enough of Romania. In it he proposed the idea of Transylvania’s administrative autonomy from Romania, triggering a wave of outraged protests from almost all Romanian politicians and media.
Today – looking back at last weekend’s Szekler Meeting in Spesiszentgyörgy/Sfântu Gheorghe and the Romanian media response – he published an opinion piece on the foter.ro Hungarian-language news site published by the Transylvanian Media Space Association (Erdélyi Médiatér Egyesület). The main agenda of the meeting was a demand for Szekler autonomy. He gave detailed explanations for all nine points, but below we will only reproduce the nine points themselves.
1. Ultimately, autonomy means nothing else but self-care – only those incapable of self-care would consider this separatism.
2. (The participantsat the meeting) have clearly stated that nationalism is not the solution, regardless in what language it is shouted by the masses.
3. The Gyulafehérvár/Alba Iulia proclamation would have turned this country into a good and honest place for all of its inhabitants. (The 1918 proclamation declared the unification of the Romanian Kingdom with Transylvania also promised rights to minorities which haven’t been fulfilled since.)
4. All cultures are equal: “bună ziua”, “jó napot” and “guten Tag” all mean the same thing (“a good day”).
5. Transylvania – have you noticed that the region’s name is only mentioned when dealing with Hungarians?
6. Autonomy does not equal independence.
7. The problem of Romania is not separatism but insane centralization.
8. As a trrraitor (untranslatable phonetic pun) I declare, write down and sign that I will never be northwestern (Romanian) – but will always be Transylvanian!
9. The Victoria Palace (in Bucharest, the building housing the Prime Minister and his cabinet) is the only separatist point on the map of Romania.
Title image: Szekler Meeting in Sepsiszentgyörgy, November 18, 2018 (MTI/Nándor Veres)
