National minorities in Romania should be the ones to judge their situation themselves, not the head of state, who has made it clear several times, that he thinks of himself not as a German but as a Romanian of German descent – stated Csaba Sógor in the European Parliament during the plenary session of February. 

The RMDSZ MEP reminded his colleagues about the recent speech of the Romanian president, Klaus Johannis from the Council of Europe, according to which minority protection is handled in an exemplary manner in Romania.

Csaba Sógor presented a long list of counter-arguments and examples of infringements of the rights of autochthonous minority communities that disprove the president’s statement: „I do not believe minority protection is exemplary in a state where the German community was half a million in size a short while ago, but has decreased to only a few thousand people by today. I do not believe minority protection is exemplary in a state where a legislative framework for minority protection was promised during the EU accession but was never adopted; where the use of mother tongue is sanctioned; where the use of community symbols and education in mother tongue is restricted. I do not believe minority protection is exemplary in a state where the restitution process started after the fall of the communist regime has come to a halt and is being reversed; where privately owned properties by persons belonging to national minorities are being renationalised and where the promises made in 1918 at Alba Iulia on the rights of minorities in the Romanian state have been totally forgotten” – argued Csaba Sógor in the EP.  

In his conclusion the MEP stressed: the best way to assess the situation of a minority in a state is to ask the opinion of the minority community in question.