Hungary welcomes Covasna court overturning national anthem fine

Budapest (MTI) – The Hungarian government has welcomed a second-instance decision by the Covasna (Kovaszna) County Court in Romania to annul a fine against the Hungarian Civic Party for organising a commemoration on June 4, 2014, National Cohesion Day, where participants sang the Hungarian national anthem.

The official ruling of the court said the organisers did not break the law by singing the national anthem and rejected the county prefect’s appeal of the first-instance decision to annul the fine of 5000 lei (EUR 1,130).

Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen told MTI in a statement that the Tuesday ruling made it clear that the earlier decision by the county prefect to fine the party was unlawful.

Semjen said it would be “unacceptable” for anyone in a European Union member state to be punished for singing their national anthem. Such a mentality is reminiscent of Ceausescu’s dictatorship, which has now fallen for good, Semjen said. He said Hungarians living in Covasna County rightfully expect an apology from county prefect Sebastian Cucu.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters