2011-07-17

DAHR’s MEP Csaba Sógor attended the fifth edition of the Youth Fest in Szilágyság where he made a presentation entitled “Multiculturalism in the European Union” to the attending audience of the Interethnic Forum.

The fifth edition of the Youth Fest, organized by the Youth Council of Salaj County (SZIT) took place between the 15th and the 17th of July near Simleul Silvaniei, at the Broscaria resort. The event hosted concerts, NGO presentations, folk music, a beauty contest, arts and crafts and fashion presentations. On Saturday, attendees could participate at the Interethnic Forum where MEP Csaba Sógor, MP Dénes Seres and psychologist Réka Fuchs spoke about the coexistence of Romanians and Hungarians and prejudices in general.

The discussion was started by MP Dénes Seres, president of the Salaj County branch of DAHR, who said that the main goal of the Forum is to promote ethnic, language, cultural and religious diversity, as well as the establishment of cordial relations between young people coming from different ethnic backgrounds. In his presentation he spoke about the situation of the Law on Minorities in Romania. He explained that the struggle for minority rights began in the 1990s: “While there were no mayors in Salaj County in 1989, today we are proud to have 14” – he declared. The MP also called attention to the need for peaceful coexistence of the Hungarian minority that represents 23% of the population of Salaj County, with their Romanian neighbors.

MEP Csaba Sógor made a presentation of the multicultural Europe for the young people of Salaj. The Hungarian MEP from Transylvania said that a multicultural society does not only imply that more cultures live alongside each other, but also that none of these is dominant, people know and respect each other’s culture. “When Angela Merkel said that the German multicultural model has fallen she truly meant that the Muslim minority’s culture in Germany was never equal to the German, this is why Turks in Germany chose isolation instead of integration. Many people speak of multiculturalism as a synonym of integration, but the two are not the same because majority societies understand integration as assimilation and this is obviously in collision with the interest of the minorities. We can also feel this in Transylvania” – he added.

Therefore real multiculturalism is when equal cultures coexist peacefully – explained Csaba Sógor. – From this point of view, it is interesting to see where actual multiculturalism can be found in Europe.If we look at functioning autonomies in South-Tirol, Catalunia or the Aland Islands, we can see that the only way to achieve this is to organize society along strict lines. South Tirol has precise linguistic quotas in public administration. In Switzerland, where four cultures have been coexisting for more than four centuries, there are strict rules regarding the linguistic  system and educational policies of the cantons. Belgium is also interesting: although the Walloon and Flemish cultures are equal from a legal point of view, it is not to good to be a Walloon in Flanders, and vice-versa: the communities protect themselves.

Csaba Sógor added that multiculturalism can only work if rules and institutions guarantee the equality of the cultures. The classic liberal emphasis on personal freedom, the diminishing of the importance of the community and the unregulated nature of interethnic relations leads to a merely declarative multiculturalism that results in in intensifying the domination of the majoritarian culture and the extrusion of the minority culture.

At the end of his visit to Salaj County, MEP Csaba Sógor attended the opening event of the City Days in Simleul Silvaniei where he also emphasized the importance of multiculturalism and peaceful coexistence.