Hungary parties welcome Romania election result

Budapest, December 12 (MTI) – Hungary’s political parties have hailed the outcome of Romania’s recent general election, in which the ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ party garnered over 6 percent of the votes and will have seats in the Bucharest parliament.

Jobbik said the Hungarian community would have a strong representation and added that it expected “credible, efficient, and consistent” work from the Hungarian deputies. MP István Szávay told a press conference that his party also welcomed that “openly anti-Hungarian” parties had not garnered enough votes to clear the parliamentary threshold of 5 percent.

The opposition Socialists said they trusted that Romania’s Social Democrats, who won the election, “will cooperate with representatives of the Hungarian community”. It is in the interests of “Hungarians on both sides of the border” that governments of the two countries are on good terms, they added, but voiced reservations concerning ruling Fidesz’s “changeable” policy and “nationalistic rhetoric”.

The green opposition LMP said it was glad the Hungarian community will continue to be represented in Romania’s national assembly. In a statement, the party welcomed that ethnic Hungarians had demonstrated unity, and urged the incoming deputies to “work for the interests of the Hungarian community with responsibility in a changing political atmosphere in Romania”.

The Hungarian Liberal Party urged the governments of both countries to “take active steps to settle open issues”. István Szent-Iványi welcomed that the ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ and MPP parties would have seats in the Romanian parliament, and said that “a policy of divisions will yield no results; cooperation is the only way, not only in Romania but in other neighbouring countries, too”.