A few days before the Day of the Autonomy of Székelyland, on October 31, we have to face the situation that due to the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, the authorities have restricted the right to assemble throughout Romania - the president of the Székely National Council began his message.
The responsibility of the local organizers in protecting the health of the population is very high, so we ask everyone to take into account and respect the restrictive measures in force.
In such circumstances, we ask the residents of those settlements where the local government does not undertake to organize bonfires to commemorate the Autonomy Day of Székelyföld in their homes, by placing candles in the windows, displaying the Székely flag, or, for those who are able to do so, by lighting a tree or a bonfire in the in your own yard or garden, or perhaps on private church or public property.
On the other hand, no restrictive measure prohibits praying together for the autonomy of Székelyföld in our churches in the year of the Eucharist, on the feast of the Reformation, in the spirit of ecumenism that strengthens Hungarian unity, no measure prohibits that a candle placed in a window, a bonfire lit in a yard or garden, or any other creative a photo of a private initiative should be posted on social media so that we can feel the power of belonging together through this.
We would also like to draw attention to the political struggle we have to fight for the national regions. The stakes remain the same as last year. In Europe, not only the states are carriers of national cultures, but also some regions. Again, we quote university professor and political scientist Miklós Bakk: "The deeper goal of the initiative is to redefine the concept of multiculturalism. There are two competing conceptions of multiculturalism in Europe, one is a globalist, universalist multiculturalism, which is the multiculturalism of inclusion, and which seems to be the winning alternative in the states of Europe. However, the character of European civilization is given by the diversity of the regions and the territorial diversity existing under the states, which Europe also has the opportunity and means to integrate, and this is the original concept of European multiculturalism. We are in the paradoxical situation that this initiative also has to fight a political battle so that the original European concept of multiculturalism prevails in Europe."
We collected more than 1,400,000 signatures from the 27 states of the European Union in the citizens' initiative launched for the national regions. The process of verifying the signatures has not yet been completed, but we are already close to being classified by the European Commission as a successful citizens' initiative.
Before October 31st, we will deliver the Székelyföld Autonomy Day manifesto to the local organizers, and we ask everyone to read it out wherever they gather. At the time of the event, the press can download the manifesto in Hungarian and Romanian from the website of the Székely National Council (www.sznt.org).
Source and image: szekelyfold.ma /Izsák Balázs is the president of the Székely National Council
