President refers the ‘Trianon Law’ to the Constitutional Court

President Klaus Iohannis has referred the “Trianon Law” to the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR), arguing the law is just a statement. The Parliament passed this law upon PSD’s proposal. The Social Democrats accused President Iohannis on Thursday, June 4 that he has no national dignity to promulgate the law.

The Romanian President argues that this law has “a purely declarative character, and the object of the law is not clearly determined”.

The President’s referral also mentions that “there is no need for such a law, which has no regulatory character”, while the event could be marked by the Parliament through “a simple statement”.

Iohannis adds that the law does not mention what precise activities can be held on June 4, at national and local level. “Therefore, the law’s purpose is not an individualised and precisely determined one, as it doesn’t clearly say what is the targeted general social interest”, reads the President’s complaint.

The Treaty of Trianon was signed in the Grand Trianon Palace in Versailles on June 4, 1920. It formally ended World War I between most of the WWI Allies and the Kindgom of Hungary, as one of the successor states to defeated Austria-Hungary Empire.The treaty defined the borders of the new Hungarian state, while rendering some territories within the Austrian-Hungarian Empire to their former owners. The Kingdom of Romania was among the beneficiaries of the Trianon Treaty, along with the Czechoslovak Republic, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. After the WWI, Transylvania became independent and united with the Kingdom of Romania, forming the Great Romania, in December 1918. Romania is celebrating its National Day on December 1, 1918.

On May 13, the Chamber of Deputies passed the law declaring June 4 the Day of the Trianon Treaty by 235 votes to 21 against and 25 abstentions. The draft law enabled the possibility of holding, countrywide and locally, cultural, educational and scientific events dedicated to raising awareness over the meaning and importance of the Trianon Treaty.

“Today, Romania is marking the centennial of the Trianon Treaty, an essential page in the Romanian nation’s history, through which Transylvania’s union with Romania was recognized, namely the will of the Romanians expressed on December 1, 1918. By this law we want to mark with dignity the meaning of the Day of June 4. Unfortunately, President Iohannis has lacked the national pride to promulgate this law in due time”, PSD chairman Marcel Ciolacu said in a Facebook post.

O the other hand, the Democrat Union of Magyars in Romania (UDMR) has slammed the bill, saying it is “useless”, as it cannot change anything.

“Along with Transylvania, you also enriched with us, with our cultural inheritance and with our past, as well. The conditions in which a minority is living are depending on you, first of all. We, the ones who remained in Romania, accepted that this country is also ours, is our home, too and it’s here that e we want to build the future of our children. A strong, confident majority, which has no remorse, is never showing its power ostentatiously, is not deliberately prompting situations when the other one feels humiliated, offended and bullied, stigmatized, as it has happened in the past weeks with the Magyar community in Romania. And we are wondering: what do you want to prove with this law? To whom? (…) I see the competition launched by the Romanian President three weeks ago is not over yet. You think that by this competition you solve all Romania’s problems if you are showing you are anti-Magyars on a weekly basis”, UDMR leader Kelemen Hunor said.