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European commissionaire Dacian Ciolos about Hungary’s plans to buy land in Romania
The European commissionaire for agriculture Dacian Ciolos answers in a strict statement to the Hungarian state plans, announced by an official of the Hungarian embassy to buy agricultural land in Transylvania.
This is the complete answer of the European commissionaire for agriculture and rural development, Dacian Ciolos:
“It is unlikely that Hungary put to practice in a legislative way the intention stated by a low-rank official in the Hungarian Embassy in Bucuresti. I understand that the minister of foreign affairs in Budapest confirmed that it was a discussion and not an intention coming from the Hungarian state.
The ide in itself to develop a land policy based on ethnic discrimination on the territory of another member state is profoundly non-European. The obsession for ethnic engineering and territorial engineering through the intervention of the state – in contrast to the individual liberty of choice in a context of equal chances – belongs to a past which nobody wants back. Besides that, depending on the details of the programme, in the unlikely case we get there, both the European legislation and the national one can be used to block any form of abuse or discrimination. The creation of economic advantages with public resources on ethnic criteria is strictly forbidden by the European legislation, and the European Commission, through specialised departments, expects to follow these aspects with strictness.
Article 10 in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union includes that ‘ when defining and putting to practice its policies and actions, the Union tries to combat any discrimination on race or ethnic origin, religion or convictions, handicap, age or sexual orientation’. At the same time, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union which came in power on the basis of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009 has article 21 (1) where a general interdiction of ‘ discrimination of any kind, based on such reasons as race, colour, ethnic origin or social origin, genetic characteristics, language, religion or convictions, political opinions or of any other kind, membership to a national minority, wealth, birth, handicap, age or sexual orientation’ is included.
The Romanian state has instruments to keep control over its own land and agricultural policy and rural development, offering opportunities to every citizen, irrespective of ethnicity.
Szabo Jozsef,the agriculture attaché of the Hungarian Embassy in Bucharest, stated for Erdely FM radio station that the Hungarian project includes that ‘ if somebody wants to sell his land, then he can sign a contract with the Hungarian state and he will receive life annuity’ and the land stays in his property to the last day. The diplomat mentioned the same thing to the Kronika daily.
On the other hand, the Hungarian minister of foreign affairs considers that ‘ it was just an idea’ not a programme, and the interview of the agriculture attache in the Kronika does not exist. But journalist Szucher Ervin, the signatory of the interview with the attaché for the Kronika stated that the interview is very real and presented the recording to the journalists from Nepszabadsag.