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Romania's Hungarians want Kosovo recognition
18 February 2008 | 16:19 | Source: BIRN
BUCHAREST -- Kosovo's unilateral declaration was welcomed by representatives of the Hungarian minority in Romania, BIRN says.

They have also Monday called for recognition of the Serbian province.

"Sooner or later Romania will have to recognize Kosovo as a new independent state," Marko Bela, leader of the Democratic Union of the Hungarians in Romania, UDMR, said.

This is at variance with Romania's official position, which is to withhold recognition until Kosovo independence is "declared to be in conformity with international law", the online publication says.

In a related development, leaders of the Szeklers National Council (CNS), an organization of ethnic Hungarians in Romania, on Sunday argued that Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence "signaled European Union support for autonomist movements."

The Romanian press also reported that a group of ethnic Hungarians celebrated Kosovo Albanians' independence declaration Sunday night in the northern Romanian city of Cluj.

Rally participants carried posters with slogans such as "Well Done, Kosovo!", "Rights for Minorities", and "Long Live National Autonomy!".

Ethnic Hungarians comprise 6.6 percent of Romania's total population according to official data.

By contrast, representatives of the 30,000 or so ethnic Serbs in Romania echoed officials in Belgrade by expressing opposition to independence for Kosovo and warning that the creation of a new state in the Balkans would raise tensions in the region, BIRN said.