Les nouvelles relations magyaro-roumaines. Quelles
conséquences politiques en Roumanie ? Retours historiques, situation
actuelle, perspectives
The New Hungarian-Romanian Relations: What Will Be the Political Consequences in Romania? Historical Meanders, Actual Situations, Perspectives
Author(s): JEAN-MICHEL LEMONNIER
Subject(s): History
Published by: Universitatea »1 Decembrie 1918« Alba Iulia
Keywords: Central and Eastern Europe; Romanian political parties; Hungarians in Transylvania; Siculian regionalism; Viktor Orbán
Subject(s): History
Published by: Universitatea »1 Decembrie 1918« Alba Iulia
Keywords: Central and Eastern Europe; Romanian political parties; Hungarians in Transylvania; Siculian regionalism; Viktor Orbán
Summary/Abstract:
This paper focuses on the issue of the legitimacy of the Hungarian
ethnic group in Transylvanian space, summarizing the partisan arguments
of various historians. It discusses recent political events in Hungary
since 2010, with Viktor Orbán’s return to power, exploring how the
ruling political party, FIDESZ, occasionally reactivates discussion on
the theme of Greater Hungary and various irredentist issues. Speeches
from various Romanian political parties are also analysed, including the
Romanian government’s official line in response to provocative
statements by the Hungarian government and other political groups, such
as the far-right nationalist party Jobbik, on the status of the
Hungarian minority in Romania. These verbal interventions signal the
reactivation within the public debate of pan-Romanianist concepts
associated with Corneliu Zedea Codreanu’s Legion of the Archangel
Michael (Iron Guard), the military junta of Ion Antonescu, and Nicolae
Ceauşescu’s national communism. While Viktor Orbán seems to limit
himself to verbal provocations and symbolical measures, some Romanian
and Hungarian nationalists are reconnecting with the ethno-nationalist
ideologies of the inter-war years, rejecting cosmopolitanism,
internationalism and supranational bodies, finding a new audience among
citizens hostile to the rulers of the post-communist era. The role of
the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (HDUR), playing a double
political partition in Romania, is also examined. This multifaceted
nationalist resurgence, which can even be seen in moderate Romanian
political organizations, is symmetrical to the discursive orientations
of certain Hungarian political parties outside Romania and, to a lesser
extent, within the country (HDUR party). We hypothesize that Viktor
Orbán’s return to power and the political tropism toward nationalist
themes is indirectly causing a reconfiguration of the Romanian political
spectrum. The ideological lines of battle in this mutation-evolution
are dominated by a broad anti-Liberal Front movement, which may presage
the end of the post-communist era and, indeed, the gradual
marginalization of communist dissidents who converted to social
liberalism. In other words, the positions of certain Hungarian
politicians regarding Hungarian minorities in Romania could herald, in
response, the marginalization of the ruling Romanian political class,
bringing medium to long-term benefits in terms of new poles of political
perspective and a new political system.
LIEN VERS L'ARTICLE : https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=426234
LIEN VERS L'ARTICLE : https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=426234