Why do Transylvanian Hungarians leave Romania, how is their life abroad, and do they plan to move back home in the future? These are the questions posed by the Bálványos Institute in its online survey. The “Transylvanian Hungarians around the world” survey started on Monday in partnership with the Kolozsvár/Cluj-Napoca faculty of the Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania.
The aim of the study is to get answers to questions, such as why do Transylvanian Hungarians leave their homeland (mainly to go to Western Europe and North America), how is their life where they are now living, and how much are they able to create a “small Hungarian world” around themselves?
Another important question is how do they relate to Romania and Hungary? Are they planning to move back home sometime in the future, and how strong is their connection to their homeland? The researchers would also like to find out that if Transylvanian Hungarian networks exist in different countries. Do Transylvanian Hungarians prefer to join general Hungarian networks instead of ones only for those coming from Transylvania? Do they set up such networks themselves?
A previous survey conducted by the Institute for Minority Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences provided some great background for this study. The “Hungarians abroad” survey examined the life of those Hungarians who moved away from Hungary to live and work.
The Balványos Institute seeks to adopt the Hungarian Academy of Sciences’ survey, paying special attention to the Transylvanian Hungarians’ unique situation, that is, their attachment to both Romania and Hungary. (www.kronikaonline.ro)
The survey is available here.
