Hungarians and Romanians Move to Settle Trouble
TIRGU MURES, Romania — Leaders of the feuding Romanian and ethnic Hungarian communities in this divided Transylvanian city agreed on some moves Thursday to end tensions that resulted in six deaths, hundreds of injured and a wave of strikes.
Deputy Prime Minister Gelu Voican headed compromise talks between the Hungarian Democratic Union and the Vatra Romanesca nationalist movement.
While confrontations in the city’s central square continued to flare, the Rompres news agency said the Hungarian minority had won a demand for students to be educated exclusively in Hungarian.
A statement said Vatra Romanesca accepted that the Hungarians, outnumbered four to one by Romanians in Transylvania, did not want to separate the northern province from Romania.
It said both sides called for an end to political strikes apparently called mainly by Hungarians.
Demonstrators on Thursday taunted soldiers trying to keep peace between Romanian nationalists and ethnic Hungarians. About 1,000 youths approached tanks guarding Tirgu Mures’ central square, shouting, “Transylvania is Romanian†and “We want justice--no privileges.â€
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