Transylvania

Romania's former Social Democrat Prime Minister Mihai Tudose apologized on Thursday for threatening to hang ethnic Hungarian political leaders, when he said that "if the Szekler [ethnic Hungarian] flag flies on an institution, they will fly next to the flag."

The Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, the Hungarian National Party and the Hungarian People's Party in Transylvania asked for a territorial declaration of territorial autonomy for the Szeklers and a special status of the Partium region (the territories to the north and west of Transylvania), Aderpres said.

Romania's main ethnic Hungarian parties on Monday signed a joint declaration that sets out a common political agenda, including a demand for autonomy in those parts of the Transylvania region where ethnic Hungarians are in the majority.

Romania's best-known Christmas fair is set to open on Friday night in the city of Sibiu, Transylvania, with over 90 participants from Romania and abroad, organizers said.

Romania's Senate on Monday postponed a vote on a bill designed to commemorate March 15 as the anniversary of the 1848 Revolution in Hungary.

Hungarians everywhere honour the uprising against Habsburg rule - eventually crushed by Austria with Russian aid.

A diplomatic scandal broke out between Romania and Hungary after Budapest decided to withdraw its support for Romania's accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development because of the cessation of any activity of the Roman Catholic Lyceum in the Romanian city of Targu Mures, Mediafax reports. FET.

Thousands of visitors, mostly from Western countries but including Romanians, too, have been heading for Bran Castle in Romania's Transylvania region this weekend to celebrate Halloween in the so-called home of Count Dracula.

Often atopped with a stork's nest, the fortified towers of the Saxon churches of Transylvania have been a striking feature of the landscape here for many centuries.

Some date back to the early Middle Ages, when Transylvania's then Hungarian rulers invited Germans to come and settle the borders of the kingdom.

"Transylvania is experiencing a renaissance," travel guide Lonely Planet says in its latest survey of the top travel destinations in 2016.

Global fame and fortune await Transylvanian-born Eugen Chirovici as top-name publishers compete for his latest novel.