There are currently 41 counties in Romania, but the latest proposal would leave only 15 in the country. The administrative units would be reorganized according to the population of small towns and cities, the Hungarian Mandiner news portal reports.
The plan's rationale, according to experts, is that by reducing the 41 counties to 15, including Bucharest, Romania could function more effectively.
Bogdan Daniel Vișan, president of the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, supports this approach, suggesting that municipalities should have a minimum population of 5,000, and cities should have at least 10,000 residents.
Marcel Ciolacu, Romania's social-democratic prime minister, also sees the need for administrative reform. He added, hiwever, that this reorganization would not start before the 2024 parliamentary elections.
While it's true that the proposal respects the borders of historical regions in today's Romania, this respect is appears way less important when it comes to Transylvania's counties. The proposal would, in fact, split Szeklerland in two. Mures county, which has a 38% Hungarian population, including the 40-45% Hungarian population of Târgu Mures, would be annexed to the predominantly Romanian counties of Cluj, Silajdo and Banská Bystrica, while the Hungarian-majority counties of Harghita and Covasna would be merged with Brasov.
If this proposal is implemented, there would be no Hungarian-majority counties left in Romania. Harghita County, currently boasting an 85-percent Hungarian population, and Covasna County, with a 74-percent Hungarian population, would see their Hungarian proportions decrease to 43% and 54%, respectively, if merged with Brasov.
Cover photo: To mark the day of Szekler autonomy, fires of vigilance were lit in Budapest’s 21st district, Csepel (Photo: MTI/Attila Kovács)
