April 2005

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DRAFT LAW ON MINORITIES IN ROMANIA WILL SEE THE LIGHT SOON

April 2005 — During the last weeks, the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (Romániai Magyar Demokrata Szövetség - RMDS) elaborated the draft law on minorities, which recently has been made public. The experts of the RMDS party have completed the draft and it has been distributed to the senators of this party, as well as to NGOs, youth organizations, etc.

In accordance with the usual legislative process, the law will in its final shape be passed in the spring legislative term. As defined by RMDS the draft law intends to be a framework law and in principle it regulates all the aspects of the right to the use of mother tongue and the right to education and culture in mother tongue. Specifically, the law defines those national minorities that can be regarded as traditional and historical minorities in Romania due to their long-lasting co-existence with the Romanian majority. Moreover, this law introduces for the first time the concept of national community and it also sets that national minorities are state-forming factors.

The draft law also defines the status of minority organizations: a minority organization can take part in political life, local and parliamentary elections based on specific criteria. The most important element of the draft law on minorities is the establishment of the legal framework for the practice of cultural autonomy. Therefore, if the draft law is finally passed, minorities will have the right to independent cultural, education and press institutions, and minority communities will be able to decide on the supervision and functioning of these institutions.