PM’s Office urges ethnic Hungarians to participate in Romania elections

Gergely Gulyás, the prime minister’s chief of staff, on Sunday urged ethnic Hungarians living in Romania to vote in the country’s general election next week.

Addressing a joint press conference with Botond Csoma, an MP candidate of Romania’s ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ party, in Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvar), Gulyás emphasised the importance of securing the strongest possible representation for the ethnic Hungarian community in the Romanian parliament.

“If RMDSZ will have many parliamentary seats it will be able to represent the interests of the Hungarian national minority in the issues that concern them,” Gulyás said. “That’s why it’s important to have a high turnout and that every Hungarian considers this election their own.”

Gulyás noted that the Hungarian community fell short of a second parliamentary seat by just over 100 votes four years ago. “This example illustrates just how much every vote counts,” he said.

Gulyás said it was up to Transylvania’s Hungarian community to make decisions for itself, which the Hungarian government would then support. He said RMDSZ had a clear vision for the next four years as well as the ability to represent the interests of the Hungarian community.