On Wednesday, President Klaus Iohannis criticised a bill on the autonomy of the Szeklerland, claiming that the social Democratic Party (PSD) helped the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) to pass this piece of legislation in the Chamber of Deputies.

"Jo napot kivanok [good afternoon in Hungarian], PSD. It is incredible, dear Romanians, what is happening in the Romanian Parliament. PSD has helped UDMR to pass through the Chamber of Deputies a law that gives wide autonomy to the Szeklerland. It is incredible where we have arrived with this PSD. It is incredible what agreements are made in Parliament. It is incredible while I, we, the government, the other authorities are fighting for the lives of Romanians, we are fighting to get rid of this pandemic, the great PSD is fighting in the secret offices of Parliament to give Transylvania away to the Hungarians. Jo napot, Ciolacu! What has the leader of Budapest, Viktor Orban, promised you in exchange for this agreement?," Iohannis told a press briefing at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace.

He warned Romanians that this means a "toxic PSD majority."

"Therefore, my dear ones, it is now better understood why I wanted early elections. I no longer want the important problems of the nation to be decided by PSD. I no longer want this toxic PSD majority to decide against Romania and against Romanians. That is inadmissible and as long as I am the president of Romania, such a law will not exist," Iohannis concluded.

A bill on the autonomy of the Szeklerland has passed the Chamber of Deputies by tacit approval and it will move on to the Senate, which is the decision-making body in this case.

As the deadline for a debate and vote in the Chamber of Deputies ran out, and the chamber found the tacit adoption of the draft in a sitting of April 23, the legislative proposal passed as submitted by the initiators - Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) MPs Kulcsar-Terza Jozsef-Gyorgy and Biro Zsolt-Istvan. The Committee on Administration had issued a negative opinion on the bill.

The draft provides for the Szeklerland to become an autonomous region with a legal personality.

The Administrative Committee of the Chamber of Deputies has drawn up a report rejecting the legislative proposal on the grounds that it "as a whole, it runs contrary to the constitutional rules and principles, domestic legal order, European Union law and international law." The Romanian government has also issued an opinion that it does not support the adoption of the legislative proposal, and the Economic and Social Council (ESC) and the Legislative Council have also issued negative opinions.

The bill will be sent to the Senate, which is the decision-making body in this case. AGERPRES (RO - author: Florentina Peia, editor: Mihai Simionescu; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)