BISHOP TŐKÉS: INTEGRATION, BUT NOT AT ANY COST

Yesterday Bishop Tőkés in a briefing in Budapest said that the EU-accession of Romania was a useful step but not at any cost. According to the chairman of The Hungarian National Council the Hungarian community in Romania probably will have just as many rights as it had before the accession.

Bishop Tőkés spoke about the statement signed by five Transylvanian organizations demanding the Hungarian Democratic Union in Romania (RMDSZ) to withdraw its bill of minority rights because it was unacceptable for Hungarians in Romania. The bishop of the Reformed Church referred to their bill about autonomy which was refused by the parliament.

Bishop Tőkés finds the attitude of the Hungarian government baffling because it does not support a form of autonomy which is successful in several European states. He said only ten per cent of their confiscated properties had been returned to the churches which fact questioned the accession of a country where property relations were unsettl.

Translated by Péter Szentmihályi Szabó