If the Romanian state sees the Romanian Hungarians as a strong, viable community, it will treat them differently, therefore it is important that as many people as possible take part in the Romanian census and declare themselves Hungarian - said Kelemen Hunor, president of the Romanian Hungarian Democratic Association (RMDSZ) on the current channel M1 on Monday.
The politician said: everyone is encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity to fill out the census questionnaire online, which is possible until May 16.
He said that ten years ago, 1,260,000 people declared themselves Hungarian, this is a "guiding figure", now it will be clear how many there are, which will determine the public policy issues related to ethnicity, language use, mother tongue education or the level of state support in the next ten years. . The most important aspect is that "the Romanian state sees us as a strong community and we see ourselves as a strong community," he noted.
In addition to local governments, there are specialists who help those who turn to them to fill out the questionnaire, but churches and RMDSZ also help, said the politician. He drew attention to the fact that it is important to answer all questions, because the last part of the questionnaire contains questions about ethnic and religious identity.
The president of the RMDSZ asked that everyone declare themselves Hungarian, and indicated that on the questionnaire, as a "subcategory", it is also possible to declare that someone is from Székely, Partium, Kalotaszeg, or, for example, from Székely.
When they define their relationship with the Romanian state, they must present themselves as a Hungarian community , he added.
Kelemen Hunor , they are paying attention to all settlements so that as many people as possible fill out the questionnaire, but now they have to focus on those living in the city. In smaller settlements, it is expected that 45-50 percent of the Hungarians living there will fill out the questionnaire online, and in these smaller settlements the interviewers will reach people more easily during the period of personal inquiry.
But, he noted, in big cities, the interviewer may not be able to reach everyone who did not fill out the questionnaire online.
The politician was a guest of Kossuth radio Good morning, Hungary! program, where he also talked about how important it is for everyone to fill out the census questionnaire. As a reason, he also mentioned that the data of those who do not fill out the form online and are not accessed by the interviewers, are then "uploaded" from other databases, but they do not include data on ethnicity.
He said: ten years ago, at the last census, 91-92 percent of the Romanian population was counted, the data of the other residents were "added", without ethnic identity, and that's how the 1 million 260 thousand Hungarians came out. He indicated: participation is currently 30-35 percent, and I would like to increase this to 45 percent by the end of online filling.
Source and title image: MTI
