Târgu Mureș / Marosvásárhely, March 15, 2011.℘
Romania signed the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in July 1995. Fourteen years later, on 29 January 2009, the country published the Law on the Ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECMRL) (Law nr. 282 from 24 October 2007) that entered into force on 1 May 2008. The Law on Ratification (282/2007, October 24) states that the provisions of the Charter will apply to ten minority languages used in Romania, including Hungarian, the language examined in our Report. The Charter ensures the use of regional and minority languages in various and significant areas of life including education, public administration, the judicial system, and media and in the context of social life and cultural activities.
The Charter promotes the use of regional or minority languages in public and private life, considering that these languages contribute to ?the maintenance and development of Europe’s cultural wealth and traditions?. The Charter defines as regional or minority languages the languages which are ?traditionally used within a given territory of a state by nationals of that state who form a group numerically smaller than the rest of the state’s population? (Article The Shadow Report (Report) is focusing mainly on the town of Tîrgu Mureş/ Marosvásárhely, the capital of Mureş/ Maros County, which has been examined in this report from the perspective of the ECMRL implementation in relation to the Hungarian language. It is important to mention that the preparation of the Report was entirely funded from our own resources; we have not applied for funding nor received financial support from any other organization, including from any state institutions. Regarding human resources, we worked with our own staff, including the volunteers of our NGO with no support from other NGOs or state institutions.
The Report includes several case studies compiled during our advocacy actions and activities as well as the Report presents a number of field investigations, statistics, and surveys carried out by our NGO with the aim to make visible the results related to the implementation of the ECMRL within Mureş/ Maros County, with a special focus on the county capital, Tîrgu Mureş/ Marosvásárhely. The results of our fact-finding efforts are the consequences of a two-year constant monitoring process related to the implementation of the ECMRL, focusing on the Hungarian language, as this region is inhabited by a large number of Hungarians. The Report presents, in detail, statistics related to the population, as well as the languages spoken within Mureş/ Maros County.
Starting with a broad presentation on Romania and its languages, as well as minority policies, the report continues with a general presentation of Mureş/ Maros County and the county capital of Tîrgu Mureş/ Marosvásárhely. The Report continues with surveys and examinations that focus on the implementation of the ECMRL in two distinct areas – public administration (ECMRL: Part III, Article 10) and Education (ECMRL: Part III, Article 8). Also, it also describes the language landscape of the county capital with the aim to show a clear picture of the present situation from the perspective of the Hungarian language, which is specific to this Region and is spoken by almost 40 per cent of its inhabitants.
We would like to emphasize that our report does not intend to be a negative critique of the Romanian state and public authorities. On the contrary, with our research and analysis, we intend to present data and results of examinations that will enable strengthening and supporting the efficient implementation of the ECMRL within the Mureş/ Maros County, as well as throughout the country. We hope that by revealing best practices models, as well as through the presentations of the implementation’s deficiencies and apparent failures, alongside with our recommendations that we consider prospective tools for an efficient creation of a fair and just language policy within and outside of Mureş/ Maros County, we can become reliable partners throughout the future implementation process of the ECMRL.
It is important to mention that our Report has been the sole submitted Alternative/Shadow Report that has examined the ECMRL implementation in relation to the Hungarian language. The members of our NGO as well a group of experts selected by CEMO have participated in a Meeting with the members of the Committee of Experts during their on-the-spot visit to Romania (1st monitoring round with regard to the application of the Charter in Romania).In case you wish to receive our Shadow Report in an electronic or printed format, please send us an e-mail info@cemo.ro and we are going to send you a copy.