Csaba Sógor on the infringement of the freedom of assembly in Romania
In reference to the Szekler freedom day of 10 March banned in Târgu-Mureș Csaba Sógor called upon the European Parliament to remind Romania: restricting the right of assembly is not a tool of democratic systems.
The basis of the discussion was the 2013 annual report on human rights and democracy in the world, which was on the agenda of this month’s plenary session of the EP in Strasburg. RMDSZ MEP Csaba Sógor commented: "The report rightly draws attention to the importance of exercising the freedom of assembly, and calls upon the Member States to condemn all restrictions of this right.”
During the discussion of the report on Wednesday, March 11th, the MEP raised awareness upon the banning of a protest organised by members of the Hungarian minority from Romania: "This week in one of the member states of the European Union, Romania, a request for a peaceful protest march was rejected simply because the government does not agree with the political objectives and issues raised by the organisers of the protest."
The RMDSZ MEP stressed that restricting the right of assembly is clearly an established practice of non democratic systems. ”The EP ought to remind Romania of this, a member state whose official position is that within its borders the issue of national minorities is resolved in an exemplary manner”, said Csaba Sógor, who considers that the banning of the protest stripped national minorities of their right to peaceful, democratic protest and freedom of assembly. "The occurrence of such cases within the European Union undermines our credibility when we criticize the practice in case of third countries" - warned Sógor.
