Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén of Hungary visited the 4th annual forum of the Associations of Hungarian Old Age Pensioners in Romania on Friday, 19 April in Bors (Borș), Transylvania, Romania. He focused his speech on the upcoming European Parliamentary election in Romania, held in June.

Deputy PM Semjén stressed the importance of getting ethnic Hungarian representation in the European Parliament from Romania so he urged everyone to get out and vote for the EP list for the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ). He went on to point out that the Fidesz–KDNP coalition will protect the interests of the ethnic Hungarian minority in Strasbourg and Brussels regardless of whether RMDSZ wins any EP seats. However, he believes MEPs from RMDSZ would be more effective in doing so. Also, if the anti-Hungarian Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) were to get EP seats, but RMDSZ did not, there would be no one to counter their narrative in the EP from Romania.

‘Viktor Orbán needs at least two MEPs from RMDSZ in order to be able to protect the interest to Hungarians everywhere more forcefully,’

Semjén added.

Anti-Hungarian sentiments have been a topic of public discussion in Romania lately. A national scandal broke earlier this month: two Romanian gymnasts were kicked out of the Romanian National Team ahead of the European Championships for tying their ethnic Hungarian teammate to a radiator and abusing him while others were chanting ‘ungure, ungure’ (Hungarian, Hungarian) in the room.

Deputy PM Semjén also emphasized the need for change in the EP at the event. He told the pensioners that the EU’s legislative body has had a ‘really poor performance’ lately, botching their handling of such crucial issues as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russo-Ukrainian war, and migration. Fidesz’s stances on these issues, however, remain consistent. ‘We don’t want migration, we don’t want the gender craze, and we don’t want war,’ as Semjén put it.

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