News from Rumania: The Szekely Miko Matter (Székely Mikó ügy)

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Erdélyi Magyar Televízió – Amerikai Magyar Szövetség és a Székely Mikó Kampány

8/21/2012 – AHF sends follow up letter to Romanian Ambassador Vierita and the Chairmen of the United States Helsinki Commission regarding the Szekely-Miko Case: “The American Hungarian Federation (the “Federation”) is deeply concerned that the prosecution of former state secretary Attila Marko, Silviu Vlim and Tamas Marosan in connection with the restitution to the Reformed Diocese of Transylvania of the Szekely Miko Evangelical Reformed College (“MEC”) in Sfantu-Gheorghe, Romania was not justified.  It only serves to further stall, and in this instance reverse, the lawful restitution of church properties and discriminate against Romania’s Hungarian minority… We are concerned that twenty-two years after the collapse of Communism, restitution of Hungarian communal properties, including churches, has been proceeding at a slow pace so that a significant number of the affected properties have yet to be returned to their rightful owners. We understand from our Jewish friends that their community faces similar difficulties.  The slow restitution process prompted Tom Lantos, the late Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, to sponsor H. Res. 191 (2005), which was adopted by the Congress and urged Romania to ‘provide equitable, prompt, fair restitution to all religious communities for property confiscated by the former Communist government.’”

The August 20th letter appears in full below and is available for [download] A similar letter was submitted to the United States Congress’ Helsinki Commission Chairman Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) and co-Chairman, Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD). Both letters appear below.

This letter is a follow up to its July statement, “Romania: Reversing Lawful Church Property Restitution, Through Criminal Prosecution” where AHF expressed its deep concern that the prosecution of former state secretary Attila Marko, Silviu Vlim and Tamas Marosan in connection with the restitution to the Reformed Diocese of Transylvania of the Szekely Miko Evangelical Reformed College (“MEC”) is a baseless and blatant attempt by the authorities to further stall and reverse the lawful restitution of church properties seized by the communists. [see the previous statement]

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[Download the AHF Statement to Ambassador Vierita]

August 20, 2012

His Excellency Adrian Cosmin Vierita
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Romania
1607 23rd Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008

Dear Mr. Ambassador:

The American Hungarian Federation (the “Federation”) is deeply concerned that the prosecution of former state secretary Attila Marko, Silviu Vlim and Tamas Marosan in connection with the restitution to the Reformed Diocese of Transylvania of the Szekely Miko Evangelical Reformed College (“MEC”) in Sfantu-Gheorghe, Romania was not justified.  It only serves to further stall, and in this instance reverse, the lawful restitution of church properties and discriminate against Romania’s Hungarian minority.  The Federation hopes that this matter will be fairly and thoroughly reviewed, the sentences and punishments reversed and the property restored to MEC, thereby ensuring that Romania complies with applicable restitution laws, due process requirements and Western standards and norms.

[Download the AHF Statement to The Helsinki Commission]

We are concerned that twenty-two years after the collapse of Communism, restitution of Hungarian communal properties, including churches, has been proceeding at a slow pace so that a significant number of the affected properties have yet to be returned to their rightful owners.  We understand from our Jewish friends that their community faces similar difficulties.  The slow restitution process prompted Tom Lantos, the late Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, to sponsor H. Res. 191 (2005), which was adopted by the Congress and urged Romania to “provide equitable, prompt, fair restitution to all religious communities for property confiscated by the former Communist government.”

Despite this unequivocal expression of congressional opinion and Romania’s pledges to its Hungarian minority to respect minority rights and abide by the rule of law when it was accepted into the European Union and NATO, Romania’s restitution process has not improved.  Romania should re-dedicate itself to these promises and solemn undertakings.

What a better time to start than with the MEC case.  The college was built by contributions and owned and operated since 1859 by the Reformed Church until it was illegally nationalized in 1948.  In May 2002, the property was duly restituted to the Reformed Church.  Thereafter and inexplicably the authorities sued for the nullification of the restitution (thereby seeking to re-nationalize the church property).

Despite the unassailable evidence that MEC belonged to the Reformed Church, on June 29, 2012, the three individual defendants received three year prison sentences (Vlim’s sentence was suspended), the Reformed Church was ordered to pay 1M lei, and the property was re-nationalized.  The Hungarian community justifiably views this case not only as a property restitution case but also as a proceeding directed against the community and a manifestation of intolerance and discrimination.  Bigotry and intolerance is an affront to all democratic-minded individuals and violate Western values and norms.

In conclusion, we urge fair and expeditious restitution in this and other cases as well as justice for the defendants.  We would be most grateful for your attention to this matter.

* The Federation, founded in 1906 as an umbrella organization representing a broad cross-section of the Hungarian American community, supports democracy, human and minority rights and the rule of law in Central and Eastern Europe. It also strongly supports continued United States engagement aimed at advancing comprehensive security by promoting Western values in the region

Background: Prompt and Fair Restitution Denied
Following the Communist takeover in Romania after the Second World War, the authorities illegally seized properties of the historical Hungarian churches, depriving these institutions of income and making their existence precarious. Twenty-two years after the collapse of Communism, restitution of these properties has been proceeding at an exceedingly slow pace so that a significant number of the affected properties have yet to be returned to their rightful owners. The painfully slow restitution process prompted Tom Lantos, the late Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, to sponsor H. Res. 191 (2005), which was adopted by the Congress and urged Romania to “provide equitable, prompt, fair restitution to all religious communities for property confiscated by the former Communist government.”

Despite this unequivocal expression of congressional opinion, Romania’s pledges to its Hungarian minority to respect minority rights, and its promises to abide by the rule of law when it was accepted into the European Union and NATO, Romania’s restitution process has not improved. On the contrary it is in danger of being reversed if not halted altogether. For example, in thirty-seven percent of the requests for restitution, a decision is still outstanding. Of the agricultural and forestry cases, twenty-three percent, and of the religious property restitution requests sixty-two percent have been adjudicated.

An even more egregious development occurred in the spring of 2012 when the Romanian government proposed that it would not return properties, but rather pay compensation of a mere fifteen percent of the values over ten to twelve years. U.S. Ambassador Mark H. Gitenstein rightfully criticized this proposal as not being the “right solution.” He further observed that Romania should comply with the European Court of Human Rights, which has ruled in favor of just and expeditious property restitution.

The MEC Case:
A Study in Intimidation, Re-nationalization of Restituted Property and “Legalized” Theft.
Attempts to re-nationalize restituted properties continue. A blatant example is the MEC case. The college was built by contributions and owned and operated since 1859 by the Reformed Church until its seizure. Thereafter it was used by the Romanian state for its own purpose. In addition, the Communist regime ‘sold’ the flats that are part of the college and formerly used by the teaching faculty. In May 2002, the property was duly restituted to the Reformed Church. Romania thereafter sued for the nullification of the restitution (thereby seeking to re-nationalize it), monetary damages from the Reformed Church and the imposition of severe criminal penalties for the officials who had ruled in favor of the restitution. The evidence appeared to be unassailable that MEC belonged to the Reformed Church in 1948 when it was illegally nationalized. Moreover, the officials of Sfantu-Gheorghe, e.g., members of the city council and mayor, testified in the pending proceeding in support of the legality of the restitution of MEC to the Reformed Church.

Nevertheless at the conclusion of the first stage of the proceeding on June 29, 2012, the three individual defendants received three year prison sentences (Vlim’s sentence being suspended), the Reformed Church was ordered to pay 1M lei, and the property was re-nationalized. The Hungarian community justifiably views this case not only as a property restitution case but also as a proceeding directed against the community and a manifestation of intolerance and discrimination. At a minimum it violates the rule of law and Western values and norms.

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