From: acarstea@icaen.uiowa.edu (Alin-Andrei Carsteanu)
Subject: Re: Hungarian Autonomy?
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 18:01:10 GMT
Organization: Iowa Computer Aided Engineering Network, University of Iowa

Newsgroups: soc.culture.romanian
Subject: Re: Hungarian Autonomy?
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Organization: Iowa Computer Aided Engineering Network, University of Iowa
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In article <1d6k9lINNd40@agate.berkeley.edu> 160955r@garnet.berkeley.edu () writes:
>        Surprisingly,  nobody  in the s.c.r. group has made an attempt
>at discussing the HDAR demands  for  local, administrative
>autonomy in Transylvania, although the issue will probably
>dominate the Romanian  political scene for years to come.
>        Could it be that, for one reason or another, we purposely avoid
>the issue? A few months ago, while net-chatting with George
>Antony,  (a very nice Hungarian fellow working on his Phd in
>Australia ) I realized not only how little I knew about the
>history of what we call Transylvania, but also how biased I was
>trained to be!
>        Hopefully, this suspect silence of ours is not a part of the
>same syndrome..
>         To start a discussion (hopefully void of gratuitous flames) I
>propose the analysis of the following sentences, which I believe
>true:
>        1) "Romanians"  or Latin language speakers of various
>ethnicities who stayed in Dacia withdrew to the Carpathians
>mountains when faced with migratory populations invasions ; they
> returned to the plains later on (12th-13th century)
>        1) Hungarians are attested in parts of Transylvania as early as
>the 10th century;
>        2)Hungarians regard Transylvania rather than Pannonia as their
>hinterland;
>        3)Transylvania was indeed an independent state (between 1526
>and 1699 I believe) - but a Hungarian state nevertheless;
>        4)There are 2 million Hungarians in Transylvania, who  neither
>want  to be assimilated nor  intend to leave;
>        5)Romania as a state can not possibly  prosper economically
>unless it satisfactorily solves the  Hungarian problem.
>        Knowledge of "facts"  is probably not enough to allow policy
>design; I therefore also propose some principles:
>        1)  "Historic right"  in Transylvania is secondary to the
>contemporary population ratio  criterion;
>        2) "Pay back"  policies such as: "since Hungarians oppressed
>Romanians 100 years ago, it is high time for Romanians to pay
>them back  nowadays"  are criminal, senseless and detrimental to
>the general welfare of all Romanians;
>        2)  Hungarian institutions are not only old but also distinct
>enough in Transylvania to warrant local administrative autonomy
>for the Hungarian minority;
>        3) To preempt nationalistic excesses and reactions on both
>sides, local Romanian population rights  in the autonomous area
>should be safeguarded; all state and local officials need to be
>bilingual; no restrictions whatsoever ought to  be imposed upon
>the wish of any Romanian citizen to take residence there ;
>        4) To dispel any doubts about the existence of a Hungarian
>"hidden agenda"  with regard to  Transylvania,  Romania and
>Hungary  should sign a treaty  concerning not only borders but
>also the scope and extent of Hungarian authorities involvement
>in the autonomous zone;
>        While  far from complete , this framework is probably good
>enough to start some sort of a  discussion; any  takers?
>(Leslie,  before hitting them keyboard keys, would you please
>count to ten? :- )
>
>Cheers!
>
>-- 
>Radu T. Tomescu at UCBerkeley
>Department of Economics
>

Opinions (sorry if too concise, lack of time):

1) Romanians often withdrew - for shorter or longer - to the Carpathians
   when faced with invasions (see Bulgarian Empire around 1000, Turkish
   invasions and so on). What is the relevance? Shouldn't they have?

1 again) Yes, if I remember well.

2) What they regard as their hinterland is a personal problem of theirs,
   so I don't want to interfere, as long as they just regard it.

3) "Transylvania was [...] a Hungarian state nevertheless", between 1526
   and 1699 - I might wanna check the years, but after Mohacs Hungary
   was Turkish and ruled by a Pasha for SOME time. So?...

4) There ARE about two millions, yes; as for their intentions, I suppose
   you're right.

5) Agreed.

As for the 5 principles (numbered from 1 to 4), I guess I pretty much 
agree.

Until next,
        Alin