Hungarians Mark National Day in Region With Fervour

Hungary on Thursday marked its national day with marches, parades, uniformed hussars and inaugurations of monuments dedicated to figures from the 1848 revolution and the war of independence against the Habsburg monarchy.

With less than a month left until the April 8 elections, the Hungarian government sent officials to the neighboring countries to participate in celebrations, seeking electoral support from around 1 million citizens that received Hungarian passports after Prime Minister Viktor Orban launched a policy of offering citizenship to ethnic Hungarians in neighbouring countries in 2010.

Orban sent a message to Hungarians in neighbouring countries. "Let me respectfully salute you … and to wish you to hear the poem 'Long live Hungarian freedom! Long live the country!' from Berehove [Ukraine] to Novi Sad [Serbia] and from Dunajska Streda [ Slovakia] to Miercurea Ciuc [Romania]," he said on Wednesday.

Focused on Transylvania

In Transylvania, which hosts by far the biggest community outside Hungary, enthusiasts paraded dressed in traditional attire holding the Hungarian flag and sang patriotic songs. Of about 1.2 million ethnic Hungarians in Romania, about half hold Hugariancitizensship and have the right to vote in April.

Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen arrived in Cluj Napoca, Transylvania's biggest city, on March 13 and reminded a gathering at the city's Hungarian Opera House that Hungarian citizenship does not only mean holding the passport, but also the right to vote. "This is important because the Hungarian parliament is the political will of Hungarians everywhere," he added.

Semjen was present on Thursday at a parade organized by the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania in Cluj Napoca...