Speaking at the latest instalment of debates about the future of the European Union, this time with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis as the main guest, Juncker said “the centenary of Romania is also a celebration for the EU and we will celebrate together this great Romanian and European moment”.
100 years ago on December 1st the assembly of Romanians in Transylvania decreed by unanimous vote “the unification of those Romanians and of all the territories inhabited by them with Romania.” This was later also recognized in the so-called Trianon Treaty between the allies of WWI and the Kingdom of Hungary.
The Hungarian delegation led by Ágost Benárd and Alfréd Drasche-Lázár arrives to the Grand Trianon Palace in Versailles to sign the peace treaty on June 4th, 1920. Image: Wikisource
In this treaty, Hungary lost 72 percent of its territory and 64 percent of its population, most of it divided between the Kingdom of Romania, the Czech Republic and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. To this day, it remains the gravest historic trauma Hungary has suffered during its more than 1,000 years of statehood.
In his speech, however, Iohaniss – himself an ethnic German – made no mention of the ethnic minorities in Romania, speaking mainly about the need to avoid a two-speed Europe, preserving the unity of the EU and reinforcing its credibility in the world.
He also said the EU should devise viable migration policies as soon as possible or face severe problems. On January 1st, 2019 Romania takes over the revolving presidency of the European Council from Austria.
