This Is Where Hungarian Public Discourse in Romania Has Ended Up

G4Media published a selection of messages that Romania's citizens are sending to Nicușor Dan after today's failed prime-ministerial nomination. In this regard, Ugar Gesta checked whether Hungarian commenters in Romania had put on their steel-toed boots today as well. A sad comparison follows.

Numerically speaking,

Within a few hours, some ten thousand comments piled up on Nicușor Dan's wall. 5.25% of that would be 499 comments — by comparison, a similar post by Hunor Kelemen has a mere 110 comments to show for it, half of which came from native Romanian speakers.

It seems even our comment-hussar uniform has been hung up on the peg.

Whatever comments there are, there's nothing to be proud of either. The vast majority of Hungarian comments are genuine AUR supporters. Looking at the comment walls, at least, it seems the Hungarian population sympathizes with AUR at a higher rate than Romanians do — which is exactly why RMDSZ has nothing to fear, since no matter what they do, Hungarians will blame Brussels and the Ukrainians all the more fiercely.

This is where we stand.

We can congratulate ourselves.

As an attachment, a few comments from the right

Andrei Ciubera's comment, which got the most likes, 23:

I don't speak Hungarian, so I'll write in Romanian. You've always been close to power ever since you've existed as a party… What I've never understood is what kind of party you actually are (besides opportunist, because that much I've seen): are you right-wing, left-wing, centrist, or is your only interest simply being in government?

And maybe you also know the answer to this question: if Bolojan was so determined to get Romania back on its feet, why didn't he start by reforming the parasitic, bloated state? He started by raising taxes and fees… any nobody could have done that.

Now diesel costs as much as in the United Kingdom, except there's a small difference in salaries, but who cares? Why does the state collect so much excise duty, and where does that money go, because nothing substantial shows for it in Romania!?

Robin Williams said a great truth: politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed from time to time, for exactly the same reason! ▸ In the Romanian original

Nu stiu ungureste asa ca voi scrie in limba romana. Voi ati fost mereu la butoane, de cand existati ca partid.... ceea ce nu am priceput niciodata este ce fel de partid sunteti (in afara de oportunist, ca asta am vazut), sunteti de dreapta, de stanga, de centru sau doar de interes, sa guvernati? Si poate stiti voi raspunsul la urmatoarea intrebare: daca Bolojan era asa pus pe redresarea Romaniei, de ce nu a inceput cu reforma statului parazit si imbuibat? A inceput prin a creste taxele si impozitele...asta orice neica nimeni putea face. Acum motorina costa cat in UK, e doar o mica diferenta la salarii, dar cui ii pasa? De ce ia statul atat de multe accize, unde se duc banii aia, ca nu se vede nimic notabil in Romania!? Robin Williams spunea o vorba mare: politicienii sunt precum scutecele, trebuie schimbati din cand in cand si din exact acelasi motiv!

Szilárd Fejér's comment:

Romanian politics is ripe for a complete reset. Where's that big red reset button?

Szilárd Fejér is a Hungarian celebrity scientist from Romania, which is why he made it into the selection.

We're sure that in the voting booth, too, he won't find the big red reset button — only the big red tulip. As usual.

Piroska Miklós's comment from Albești (Fehéregyháza):

All this is happening because AUR, PSD, and part of RMDSZ still have American interests even now! That's why a fancy delegation, including a Hungarian member of parliament, traveled to Greece this summer, on an extremely expensive flight!

The lady reads Ugar Gesta — thank you!

X. Csaba Simon's comment:

Early elections! That's all

Iuliana Szabo's comment:

We support the reforms. There are too many bureaucrats, and there are no doctors because they can't hire them. Cut the bureaucrats and hire doctors instead. There are also too many teachers, but there are far fewer children. Do you think that's fair? We want REFORMS as soon as possible. Administrative reforms, starting with you, in parliament. 300 MPs. Do it.

Antoniu Adrian Bențan's comment:

I'm glad to see that our Hungarian brothers also understand what's happening, and are no longer letting themselves be fooled by this party led by Hunor. Bravo to our brothers, and I hope you'll set them straight when the time comes to vote! ▸ In the Romanian original

Sunt bucuros să văd ca frații noștri maghiari înțeleg și nu se mai lasă păcăliți de acest partid condus de Hunor,bravo fraților noștri și sper să-i puneți la punct când va veni vremea să votați !

Sorry, but you seem to be a little optimistic...

Levente Péter's comment:

Thank God I've never voted for RMDSZ and I won't from now on either, the facts so far speak for themselves. Well, bye-byeeee

Éva Miklós's comment:

If 148 days have passed without a government, that means there's no need for a government at all

Truer words were never spoken.

Gizella Tamás's comment:

Trust will only return, if it ever does, with completely new leaders. The chain has to be replaced too, not just the dog!!

Adi Ciupac's comment:

If RMDSZ had a spine and worked exclusively for the interests of Hungarians in Romania, it wouldn't have voted for the same garbage and the same theft for more than 37 years now; I myself am half Hungarian, but that's exactly why I don't vote for RMDSZ, nor for that scum that has been robbing us for more than 37 years.

Jimmy Gimi's comment:

You're talking about responsibility and hope? Talk instead about when you and your filthy gang are going to prison?!!!

For comparison

The president received the consensus he deserved: commenters handed him back, with interest, the responsibility he had so elegantly tried to pin on parliament. This time, the comment section didn't need a Monday consultation, prior party negotiations, or yet another presidential riddle to make it clear what people think of his performance.

1.

"Are you seriously messing with us? If you wanted to solve this crisis, there would be some sign of it. But based on your performance, all I can say is: resign, there's no point forcing it any further, the presidency isn't for you."

2.

"You yourself are the failure! Be ashamed of everything you've done against us, the people who voted for you! Go to the nearest hospital and ask the doctors for help, because you're driving an entire country to despair. And by the way, we are pro-Europe, we have nothing to do with your MAGA-style 'pro-Western' friends."

3.

"Even if we set aside all the legitimate suspicions about what you've been doing since the government fell — namely, defending the PSD at any cost — there remains an unbridgeable gap between your statements: in speeches aimed at foreign audiences, you claim, on grounds I can't fathom, that there's a cross-party consensus on economic stability, which essentially means continuing the Bolojan government and the Mureșan program; yet at home you've never once publicly said that the PSD should fall in line with this direction. How long do you think you can keep playing this bland, schizoid game?"

4.

"It seemed like you were finally doing something right by nominating Siegfried Mureșan, but then you left the loophole open anyway. Would it have been so hard to say that if this government isn't approved, there will be early elections? You are the person most responsible for this crisis dragging on and on. Aren't you ashamed in front of your children's classmates' parents for keeping the country in chaos, without a government? Aren't you ashamed in front of us, who voted for you and believed you wanted what's best for this country?"

5.

"You are the failure, and you fail at everything you do, Mr. President! Dissolve parliament, call early elections! That's the solution, not Grindeanu and his gangs of thieves."

6.

"If you hadn't stepped in to tell them there wouldn't be early elections, the vote would have turned out differently. But you just had to go and tell them you wouldn't call early elections."

7.

"This is actually what you wanted all along, isn't it? To play into the PSD's hands? You must be joking when you talk about political consensus. You're a silent spectator to the disaster the PSD has caused."

8.

"Unfortunately, you're a huge disappointment to us, Mr. President!"

9.

"This is entirely your failure, one you decided on in advance! Your failure, the price of which Romanians will pay! I wonder whether you'll threaten early elections once you nominate Grindeanu! You will, won't you?"

10.

"You're simply not up to the job. Resigning might be your last chance to salvage your honor."

11.

"Dear sir, as Ms. Kövesi said: you're tired, go to sleep, maybe you'll wake up, literally and figuratively! Good night!" (The Romanian "a se trezi" means not only to wake up from sleep but also to come to one's senses, to realize something; the barbed double meaning works in English too, since "wake up" carries the same dual sense.)

12.

"A weak president, not worth two cents! We thought we'd been cheated by Klaus Iohannis, but you're an absolute disaster, Mr. Nicușor Dan!" (The original uses "de doi lei," literally "worth two lei" — a common Romanian way of calling something worthless or shoddy.)

13.

"You yourself are the failure! You, who betrayed those who voted for you… The only solution is early elections, but of course you don't want to upset your PSD friends…"

14.

"Powerlessness, Inadequacy, Contortion, Unilateralism, Hesitation, Stumbling in the dark, Regression, Lagging behind, Anachronism, Denial." (The initial letters of the original Romanian words — Neputință, Inadecvare, Contorsionare, Unilateralism, Șovăială, Orbecăială, Regresare, Defazare, Anacronism, Negare — spell out the name NICUȘOR DAN.)

15.

"Nicu Șordan, who wrote this text for you? The pro-Russian Păun, or Vlădică, the man acting as go-between for Grindeanu and the US ambassador in Greece?" ("Nicu Șordan" is a mocking rearrangement of the president's name: it keeps the letters of "Nicușor Dan" but moves the space elsewhere.)

16.

"You hold the most important office in the state. You said that this gives you access to far more information than the rest of society. It's disheartening how skillfully you dodge any kind of responsibility while telling us that your role is strictly and solely to mediate. But even under this extremely narrow interpretation of your constitutional role, some responsibility for the failure still falls on you. If all we wanted was excuses and demagoguery, we could have voted for any other candidate, or not voted at all."

17.

"I regret voting for you. Thanks for absolutely nothing. You're far too weak for this presidential office. You might be good in other fields, but politics and the role of head of state are beyond your abilities."

Source: Hunor Kelemen's Facebook page, G4Media