Hungarian Székely demand an autonomous region within Romania

In three counties of eastern Transylvania the Hungarian-speaking Székely ethnic minority voted in a referendum in favour of autonomy. The Székely's struggle for autonomy began in the 1990s, Bogdan Chiereac reports. According to Chiereac, the minority is now renewing its efforts because it sees that the state is politically weakened. "The situation has taken a serious turn. Over the past decade Yugoslavia has been torn by efforts towards gaining autonomy. There are groups of separatists in the Moldavian region and in the entire Caucasus. It's absurd that in Romania, which lies in a Europe without borders, inner borders are now being erected… The continuous political scandals in Bucharest are weakening the authority of the state, and ultranationalists are exploiting the situation. The consequence will be growing inter-ethnic tensions in Transylvania and Romania as a whole."

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