DAHR’s MEP Csaba Sógor presented the situation of minorities in Romania at the Congress of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) in Eisenstadt, Austria. At the event, the MEP presented a country report, portraying the milestones of the minority rights movement in Romania.

Due to the high level of interest for the event, the opening ceremonies of Szeklerland’s Representative Office in Brussels took place on two different venues and days. On the 31st of May László Tőkés, the Vice-President of the EP and MEPs Gyula Winkler and Csaba Sógor hosted a reception in the European Parliament, while the actual opening of the office took place on the 1st of June at the Representation of the Regions of Hungary in Brussels.

Established by the County Councils of Harghita, Covasna and Mures counties, the joint Representative Office of Szeklerland will open on the 1st of June. Thus Szeklerland joins the long list of regions, counties and cities that have their own representative office in the capital of Europe. Earlier on, amongst others, the National Council of County Councils in Romania and the County Councils of Timis and Cluj had also opened offices in Brussels.

The award for European Tree of the Year was handed out in a ceremony held at the central office of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Brussels on the 25th of May 2011 with the attendance of MEP Csaba Sógor. (www.treeoftheyear.org). The aim of the contest was to find the most beautiful trees in Europe and emphasize the importance of local communities’ heritage. The main criteria were the history of the tree.

The guarantee of cultural and linguistic diversity in the European Union should be made more efficient through a legal frame with a strict monitoring mechanism based on the documents already adopted by the Council of Europe – said DAHR’s MEP Csaba Sógor Monday, the 4th of April 2011 on the first day of the plenary session in Strasbourg.

Initiated by DAHR’s MEP Csaba Sógor, a volume in three languages (Hungarian, Romanian, English) was published about the situation of the Csángó-Hungarians in Moldavia. The book is entitled „We like to live here” appeared on the tenth anniversary of the 1521/2001 Recommendation of the Council of Europe. The volume was prepared for European readers in general, but is a useful handbook for everyone showing interest towards the situation and culture of the Csángó-Hungarian community in Moldavia.

On the plenary session of the European Parliament in Brussels on the 23rd of March 2011 DAHR’s MEP Csaba Sógor reminded about the actions of count János Esterházy’s. During the one-minute speeches in the plenary, the Hungarian MEP from Transylvania praised the activity of the Hungarian politician from Slovakia and urged for his rehabilitation.

DAHR’s MEPs Csaba Sógor and Gyula Winkler met with the representatives of the Diakonia Project Development network Tuesday morning (22.03.2011) in Brussels. This informal professional network coordinates the work of four organizations with religious background, involved in social activities in Transylvania.

On the occasion of the National Day of Hungary, DAHR’s MEP Csaba Sógor has organized another successful series of cultural events, this time with the collaboration of the Maros Artistic Ensemble. At the initiative of the Hungarian MEP from Transylvania the Hungarian Wave Public and Cultural Society, the Hungarian Cultural Institute in Brussels and the Representative Office of the Baden-Württemberg Region organized an event in commemoration of the Hungarian revolution of 1848-49 on the 14th of March.

DAHR’s Hungarian MEP from Transylvania, Csaba Sógor emphasized the importance of common responsibility in the solution of the Roma issue: „The issue of the Roma’s economic and social exclusion has been a subject of debate only since the accession of the new member states. But this doesn’t mean that the problem did not exist before”.