Hungarian American Coalition News, 2006 (15. évfolyam, 1. szám)
2006 / 1. szám
The Law on Public Administration2, also passed in 1991, included only two provisions regarding minority languages. Article 30 stipulated that decisions of the Local Council are to be made public in the minority languages in the administrative-territorial units where the community has a significant number of persons belonging to national minorities. Article 54 allows minority persons to use their mother tongue, written or orally, in communications with public administration authorities under the condition that a Romanian translation of the documents is attached or that the minority person employs the services of a translator. In 1993, the Council for National Minorities was established including members/ representatives of national minorities and civil servants from ministries. Unfortunately as a consultative body, its activity can be described as almost insignificant. Following that, Romania became a member of the Council of Europe on October 7, 1993, signed the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities3 on February 1, 1995 and ratified it on May 11, 1995. The Law on Education adopted in July 1995 had several restrictive provisions as regards minority rights that were eliminated a few years later. Although a whole chapter (Chapter XII) focused on the “education for persons belonging to national minorities”, the law does not extend to the possibility of establishing a state-financed university with Hungarian language instruction. The largest Hungarian communities beyond the borders of Hungary (around 1990) Maps based on Károly Kocsis and Eszter Kocsis-Hodosi’s “Ethnic Geography of the Hungarian Minorities in the Carpathian Basin” 2 - June 2006 - Hungarian American Coalition
