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Szeklerland borders lighted in self-government demand
Thousands draw boundaries of main Hungarian-majority territory in Romania with bonfires · Szekler National Council calls Bucharest to grant autonomy to the area
The borders of the territory -which Romania does not recognize- were lighted by some 200 bonfires. "This is how we want to inform the government of Romania, as well as the whole world that Szeklerland exists," a SZNT manifesto reads. The text recalls that the Szekler Land borders were progressively demarcated over centuries, and argues that local councils themselves are demanding a Szekler autonomous region in Romania.
The Szekler National Council supported in 2013 another pro-autonomy event in which thousands also took part. On that event, a 53-km long human chain was formed by Szeklers. Then, as now, Bucharest replied that Romania is a unitary state where autonomy aspirations cannot fit.
Szekler territories had some form of autonomy within the Kingdom of Hungary from the Middle Ages until 1870. Already being a part of Romania, the communist government created in 1952 a nominally autonomous region covering much of Szeklerland. Vested with no real powers, the region was abolished in 1968.