Speaker László Kövér offended Romanians in their own country when he accused the Romanian government of “unfriendly, uncivilised and barbaric” behaviour for preventing the reburial of writer József Nyirő, Ponta said.

The Hungarian prime minister should apologise for this, he continued, speaking after a campaign event at Craiova at the weekend.

Romania rejects paying tribute on its soil to people known for anti-Semitic, anti-Romanian and pro-fascist conduct and “an attempt at that was made at Odorheu Secuiesc,” he added.

Interior Minister Ioan Rus said if the Hungarian government fails to apologise for Kövér’s statements, he could be declared persona non grata in Romania.

Romanian authorities banned the delivery of a coffin by rail and then police stopped press chief Csaba Lukács on suspicion of possession of drugs. With the power of attorney they sifted through his baggage but found only an empty urn on him. Only three people reportedly know about the whereabouts of the writer’s ashes.

Hunor Kelemen, president of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ) said Kövér ought not to have interfered in the Romanian local election campaign.

Acts of reverence are irreconcilable with political stigmatising and the Hungarian government has no intention of communicating with the Romanian government in this regard, Péter Szijjártó, state secretary in charge of Orbán’s international relations, told Kossuth Rádió on Sunday morning.

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

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