Southeast Europe

3.3 Current sociolinguistic data
3.3.1 Territory in which the language is used
Romania is comprised of seven principal regions, all of which contain Hungarian
populations of some size, as described in Section 1.2 above.
In addition to Romania, there are Hungarian communities in seven states in Central
Europe, the largest number of Hungarians certainly reside in Hungary itself. The
Hungarians of Romania are the largest national minority in Europe excluding the
Former Soviet Union. (International Helsinki Federation, 1988:11). There are also
Hungarian populations in Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Ukraine, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Some of them are quite significant in
numerical terms. In addition, North America is home to ethnic Hungarian communities.
The largest number resides in the United States, although the Hungarian population in
Canada is the third largest East European population in the country. With regard to
language, however, it is impossible to calculate precisely how many individuals among
those populations speak Hungarian and to what extent.
3.3.2 Number of persons using this language (in territory and among emigrants)
There are approximately 14 million Hungarian speakers worldwide. Of these,
10,068,500 are residents of Hungary. According to the most recent Romanian census
(1992), 1,624,959 people declared Hungarian as their mother tongue; of those 1,590,290
declared themselves Hungarians (97%) (Trebici, 1996/1:113). Several European states
contain Hungarian populations, in addition to Canada and the United States. In some of
these countries, the Hungarian population is identified as a national minority (i.e. FRY,
Slovakia, Romania). In other cases they are immigrants, who emigrated either before
the take over of the communist regime or right after its collapse. For further information
see Minority Rights Group, 1997. The freedom to use the language differs widely
depending upon the state.
3.4 Freedom of expression in the minority language
3.4.1 Level of acceptance or resistance to the minority’s language
Hungarian is spoken in private and public in Romania. In Romania, as the Constitution
stipulates, the official language is Romanian. As János Péntek (Adviser on linguistic
problems of DAHR) emphasizes, Romanian has a privileged position compared to the
other languages spoken within the country. The author argues that this privilege is
conferred on Romanian by its status as the official language, while the other languages
have “an inferior statute, are legally subordinated, and with a limited use”. This status
also has consequences on the Education Law (No. 84/1995) (see 6.1), and on its use in
the official area. The linguistic policy is not an explicit one, and is not manifested
through a Language Law. Moreover, Romania has not ratified the European Charter of
Regional and Minority Languages (June 29, 1992).
3.4.2 Ways in which the state protects or impedes the use of the minority language
According to the Constitution, each person has the right, in case he/she is arrested, to
“be promptly informed, in a language he/she understands“ (Romanian Constitution, Art.
35