The DUHR Leader, Marko Bela, called a press conference on the 18th of February 2008 to explain the position of the Union regarding Kosovo. The DUHR Leader, Marko Bela, called a press conference on the 18th of February 2008 to explain the position of the Union regarding Kosovo. Of all the political formations in Romania, DUHR (the Democrat Union of the Hungarians in Romania) has to be approached very carefully as far as the Kosovo issue is concerned. Any reaction that doesn’t take care of all the aspects and of the context risks being dangerous for our national interest. Because of at least two reasons:

1) DUHR is the national and international representative of the Hungarian minority, the most numerous and complicated minority in Romania. Before and after proclaiming the independence, the world press launched the thesis of the danger caused by the Kosovo precedent. This is the context that turned the attention of the press towards the states with powerful and consistent minorities. Our position regarding Kosovo drew the attention of worldwide press. Therefore they gave an extraordinary attention to the position of DUHR, the organization that represents the interests of the Hungarian minorities.

2) DUHR is part of the Government coalition. The Government had a firm position against the independence of Kosovo. The DUHR position got very important from the Government survival point of view. At first sight, Marko Bela’s statement seems quite concerning. The DUHR leader stated: “Our opinion is that Romania should agree with the independence of Kosovo”. This can easily be interpreted as a major political gesture. However, this was just an opinion. Moreover, it has been reasoned with the uniqueness of the Kosovo situation. A thorough analysis of the text reveals the fact that the statement is a simple electoral maneuver. It is a move that DU