MFA State Secretary Zsolt Németh sees no reason to reconsider his statement concerning the proposal to revoke the Romanian state decoration that was awarded to László Tőkés in recognition of his contribution to the democratic revolution in Romania in 1989.

In an interview published in the Hungarian-language paper, Krónika, in Romania on December 1, the Hungarian State Secretary declared that he maintained his earlier position.

Radu Podgorean, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania, called on Zsolt Németh to apologise for his statement in which Németh had requested Romanian President Traian Băsescu „not to allow the Star of Romania become red again.” Podgorean claimed that Zsolt Németh had defiled one of the symbols of the Romanian state with his statement.

State Secretary Zsolt Németh claimed in the interview that the Romanian state award would be defiled if it was taken away from László Tőkés. Zsolt Németh added that he was optimistic and hoped that Romanian President Traian Băsescu would eventually reject the proposal of the state award jury on depriving László Tőkés of the recognition that he had rightly deserved for his active engagement in the Romanian revolution in 1989.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)