During the session of the Hungarian Parliament on 26 November, MFA Parliamentary State Secretary Zsolt Németh responded to a question posed by Member of Parliament Balázs Hidvégi.

The question targeted the decision of the relevant Romanian jury to revoke the state decoration, „The Star of Romania”, from László Tőkés – currently a Member of the European Parliament – , which was awarded to him in recognition of his formative role in the democratic revolution of Romania in 1989.

Zsolt Németh, on behalf the Hungarian government, requested Romanian President Traian Băsescu „not to allow the Star of Romania to turn red again.” He added that Hungarian political forces must remain unified in this case, and should stand arm-in-arm and create a „living chain” as people did in front of the parish house where László Tőkés lived in 1989.

State Secretary Zsolt Németh said that various forces had tried to arouse a mood of hysteria around László Tőkés, and he referred to three Romanian journalists who accurately explained the motivations behind this hysteria: the communist secret service, the Securitate, could never forget and forgive the role that László Tőkés played in the Romanian revolution in 1989 and the decision made by the award jury was nothing less than the revenge of the Securitate. Zsolt Németh declared that the nature of foundations onto which the two countries are building the future of Hungarian-Romanian relations was crucial, and he asserted that Hungary would prefer to develop bilateral relations on the foundations laid down in 1989.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)