P.O.Box 16050
2500 AA The Hague,
Netherlands, Europe
Attention Editor J. Schinkolschoek
Dear Mr. J. Schinkelschoek,
Following the article written by Mr. Klinkhamer regarding Romania and published by Haagsche Courant on My 8, 1996, we are strongly protesting against it and are urging you to publish our protest as follows:
I. Regarding Transylvania.
1. Transylvania is the cradle of the Romanian people, where they were born and living over the centuries. The Romanians represent 89% per total population of Romania, while the Hungarians represent only 7,1%7
Evidence over the Romanian continuity on this territory is exhaustingly demonstrated by history and archeology.
2. Transylvania was reunited with Romanian Kingdom after the collapse of the obsolete Austro-Hungarian Empire (End WW I), due to the overwhelming majority of the Romanians who, using their right to self-determination, two years before the Peace Conference voted to be reunited with their motherland Romania.
3. The reunion of Transylvania with the Romanian Kingdom was sanctioned - due to above mentioned democratic principle of selfdetermination - by two international treaties signed in 20th century (i.e. Peace Treaty of Trianon, 1920, and Peace Treaty of Paris, 1947). Both treaties were signed by U.S.A. Great Britain and France, etc. and were not a gift of France as Mr. Klinkhamer falsly and maliciously asserts.
4. After the battle of Mohacs (1526), Hungary totally disappeared as a country from the map of Europe and became partly a Turkish Province (Pashalyk), with the capital in Buda-Pest and partly was under Austrian admninistration.
5. During the Turkisch occupation of Hungary, Transylvania was a autonomous Principality.
6. After the Turks left the territory of Hungary (1690), this became part of Austria, while Transylvania became a separately province ruled by a governor nominated by the Emperor of Austria. During the history, the governors of Transylvania were eather Saxons or Austrians, but never Hungarians.
7. When in 1867 Hungary reappears on the map of Europe under the dualism of Austro-Hungary, after an absence of 341 (three hundred and forty one) years, Transylvania was forcibly annexed to Hungary against the will and the protest of Romanian population.
8. This annexation lasted just 51 years, from 1867 to 1918, when the Romanian majority of Transylvania, using their right to seld-determination voted for the reunion with motherland Romania.
9. As for the education in Hungarian language in Transylvania for the Hungarian minority, to cut it short, we are mentioning here only the declaration made by Congressman Tom Lantos (Hungarian native), who visited Romania as chief of an American Congressmen Delegation, when he stated that: "The Hungarians are treated not worse than the Romanians and their complaints of cultural genocide are not justified. (See please the book "Pinstripes and Reds" written by former USA Ambassador to Romania David Funderburk, Selous Foundation, N. Carolina, 1987).
II. Regarding the territories "received by Romania from Austria and Russia", as Mr. Klinkhameralso falsly and maliciously says:
1. Austria occupied the very old Romanian territory of Bucovina in 1776 after the Romanian Prince Grigore Ghika III was killed because of his opposition to this secession.
Following the colapse of Austro-Hungarian Empire after the conclusion of WW I, Bucovina returned to Romania due to the right of self-determination of the overwhelming majority of Romanian population in this territory.
In 1940 North Bucovina was taken by URSS following the Hitler-Stalin Pakt, known also as Ribbentrop-Molotov Pakt.
2. Russia occupied in 1812 the East territory of Moldova, named also Bessarabia. Bessarabia is also a historically very old Romanian territory and the Russian Tsar Peter the Great recognized it as a part of Romanian territory and as borderline between Russia and Moldova by signing in 1710 the
treaty with the Moldavian Prince Dimitrie Cantemir.
Despite this treaty and the recognition of the border line, one hundred years later, in 1812, Russia occupied this territory in order to open its way to Constantinopol and Bosphorus.
After WW I, in 1918, Bessarabia, due also to the overwhelming Romanian majority, voted for reunion with Romania.
In 1940, following the Hitler-Stalin Pakt, Russia occupied again Bessarabia.
At the present time, after the colapse of USSR, Bessarabia got rid of Russia, declared its independence, the Romanian language as official language of the country and made several steps toward full reunion with Romania.
Taking in consideration the shortly above mentioned responses, we are urging Mr. Klinkhamer to read, study and learn the history and the realities concerning Romania before he starts again to write on these topics. We are indignantly and vehemently rejecting his malicious alegations. By his actually lack of knowledge regarding the history and the realities about Romania, Mr. Klinkhamer is totaly unqualified to make any remarks and any comments concerning Romania, much less to express " conclusions ".
Mr. Schinkelshoek,
With reference to your country, what would your fellow countrymen say if somebody would write that Netherlands was part of Spain and became later independent after the colapse of Spanish power by taking Spanish territories.
We are urging you, Mr. Schinkelshoek, to publish our protest on the basis of the right to reply.
Representative of the World President of the Romanian President of the Romanian-
Association "Pro Bessarabia and Association of South Florida American National Congress
Bucovina".
George Duma, Ph. D Traian Golea Dr. Alexander Ronnett
1730 - 3rd Ave. # 1202 901 NE 14th Ave. # 601 502 Garwood Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101, USA Hallandale, FL 33009, USA Mount Prospect IL 60056 USA
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