HL Deb 17 July 1985 vol 466 cc851-2WA
Lord Hylton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What information they have about the current state of minority rights in Romania, and in particular whether the culture and cultural heritage of the German, Hungarian and Ukrainian minorities are being respected.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces (Lord Trefgarne)

The Romanian constitution guarantees a wide range of rights to members of the "cohabiting nationalities", including access to information, culture and education in their own languages. Political and administrative posts are filled in proportion to the size of the minority in the overall population.

In practice it appears to be Romanian policy to reduce the national minorities through assimilation (Hungarians) and emigration (Germans). There are severe restrictions on minority cultural institutions. Hungarian theatres, for instance, may only perform translations of Romanian works. The number of Hungarian newspapers, magazines and schools has fallen fairly sharply in recent years.