Romania ratifies the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. It can contribute to the adoption of improved legislation in the area of minority protection.

Below is an article written by Judit Solymosi:

With the publication of the Law on the Ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in the Official Bulletin, Romania has become the 23rd member State of the Council of Europe to have ratified this convention.

Romania signed the Charter on 17 July 1995, but politicians were reluctant to deal with the ratification for a long time. The draft law concerning the ratification of the Charter was approved by the Romanian government in March 2006. The law on the ratification states that the provisions of Part III of ECRML will apply to ten minority languages used in Romania, namely to Bulgarian, Czech, Croatian, German, Hungarian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Turkish and Ukrainian. The languages included under Part II are Roma, Tartar, Jewish, Polish, Greek, Armenian, Albanian, Italian, Ruthenian and Macedonian communities.

Mr Árpád Márton, a Member of Parliament stated that as far as the opportunities to use the Hungarian language are concerned, the ratification will not significantly change the existing situation, but it can contribute to the adoption of new, improved legislation in the area of education and minority protection in general. 

According to State Secretary Attila Markó, head of the Office of Interethnic Relations, the provisions concerning the Hungarian language are among the most comprehensive ones. "In the future, the courts will be obliged to accept contracts written in the minority language, but we shall also be able to manage our affairs with companies supplying water or electricity in Hungarian. It will be possible to submit our requests in Hungarian, and the customers’ service offices of the institutions will have to employ Hungarian-speaki ng staff”, he said.