In Hármasfalu (Trei Sate), there’s always an issue: sometimes it is the flag, other times the signs
For over a decade, Imre Vass, the mayor of Makfalva in Mureș (Maros) County, has been battling Romanian nationalist attacks in a municipality where the proportion of the Romanian population is very small. Signs displaying villages’ names in Hungarian have been the center of controversy for nearly 11 years, and occasionally the issue of the Szekler flag is added to the mix.
2025. február 13., 17:172025. február 13., 17:17
Currently, a Szekler (Székely) flag – a blue and gold flag used by the ethnic Hungarian Székely minority in Romania – is the source of contention in Makfalva, where the municipality’s struggle against Romanian nationalism has a particularly long history. Makfalva is located on the right bank of the Kis-Küküllő (Târnava Mică) River, 10 kilometers from Erdőszentgyörgy (Sângeorgiu de Pădure), a Hungarian-majority city in the region. The Hungarian leadership of the Makfalva first erected signs with Hungarian text in 2013; the green-and-white metal signs were placed at the boundaries of the small villages that make up the Makfalva township.
According to the prefect, who represents the Romanian government locally, the signs could be mistaken for directional markers, and the Hungarian village names they displayed did not exist in Romania’s administrative system. The signs featured the names of three villages – Csókfalva (Cioc), Székelyszentistván (Ștefănești), and Atosfalva (Hotești) – which were unified under the name Hármasfalu (which can be translated to “tri-village”) during the communist era.
Although very few Romanians live in the commune, the Hungarian-language markers remain a constant source of conflict
Fotó: Olvasói felvétel
Mayor Imre Vass told Krónika that the idea to install Hungarian village name signs was inspired by something he had seen in Alba (Fehér) County: „Țara Moților” (Land of the Moți) was written out, which is not an official administrative unit either. When he officially brought this up with the prefect in response to the complaint, he received the reply that the signs in Alba County were made of wood and served a tourism-related purpose.
„I removed the metal signs, had new ones carved from wood, and put them up again. They stayed there for years, but not too long ago, I was again asked to take them down."
The persistent complaints – coming from Dan Tanasă, an MP from the far-right nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) to be precise – ultimately failed to achieve their goal. Imre Vass continued corresponding with the authorities, addressing every question and objection raised, often with some legal assistance. As a result, the village name signs remained in place.
The former metal signs placed by Mayor Vass Imre have now been replaced with wooden ones
Fotó: Gligor Róbert László
These signs, the mayor emphasized, are in no way similar to road signs, do not endanger road safety, and are installed on private property, not public land. Additionally, they have no foundations (which would require a construction permit). These distinctions are critical because they addressed every point that detractors (such as the prefect’s office and Romanian politicians) attempted to challenge over the years. Thanks to Imre Vass’ thorough research and documentation, potential "mistakes" were avoided.
The legal disputes over the signs initially centered around the metal village name signs, but no official proceedings were initiated against the wooden replacements. There simply wasn’t a legal basis to challenge them, and over time, the "correspondence" between the authorities and the local administration faded away.
The flag was first put out on the mayor’s office in 2009, but the mayor at the time had it removed with the help of the police and the matter was brought to the prosecutor’s office. Imre Vass, who was deputy mayor at the time, recalled receiving a notice from the prosecutor’s office declaring that the Székely flag was the flag of another country.
The Székely (Szekler) flag continues to provoke discontent among nationalist Romanians in the county
Fotó: Gligor Róbert László
„They claimed that whatever is not regulated by law is prohibited. But I say, whatever the law does not prohibit can be displayed”, remarked Vass Imre, who humorously reflected on the legal wrangling. He has since secured another term as an independent mayor in this year’s elections. The Mureș County Prefecture argued that since the law (Law 75/1994 and Government Ordinance 1157/2001) regulates the display of the Romanian flag and the flag of the Council of Europe but does not provide guidelines for other flags, thereby, displaying any other flags is prohibited in Romania.
The issue of the Székely flag has recently resurfaced. As previously reported, the Civic Forum of the Romanians of Mureș (FCRCHM, an organization representing Romanian interests in Hungarian-majority areas, often coming into conflict with Hungarian representation groups and bodies) filed another complaint, prompting the Mureș County Prefecture to officially demand the removal of the Székely flag from a park near the national road 13A.
The original metal village markers resulted in a lawsuit against the settlement
In response to the current and past complaints regarding flags and signs, Mayor Vass sought the legal assistance of attorney Előd Kincses. Kincses asserts that since the law does not explicitly prohibit the display of the Székely flag, its placement is permissible.
„I wrote to the prefect, stating that in my opinion, this is not against the law. What I didn’t write but will say, is that the flag will remain in place until a court order mandates its removal. If they sue us, I will see the case through, but I will only take the flag down after a court ruling," the mayor told our paper. Imre Vass is currently awaiting a response from the prefecture on whether they will take the matter to court. He remains convinced that their demand to remove the Székely flag lacks legal grounds. According to the latest census, Makfalva has a population of 3,000, with nearly 2,200 identifying as Hungarian.
Több mint egy évtizede küzd román nacionalista támadásokkal a Maros megyei Makfalva polgármestere, Vass Imre. A községben kihelyezett magyar helységnévtáblák kérdése 11 éve nem akaródzik lekerülni a terítékről.
Iratkozzon fel hírlevelünkre, hogy elsőként értesüljön a hírekről!
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