The Democratic Union of Hungarians of Romania ( Hungarian. Romániai Magyar Demokrata Szövetség ; rum. Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România ) is a political party in Romania that expresses the interests of the Hungarian minority .
| Democratic Union of Hungarians of Romania | |
|---|---|
| Romániai Magyar Demokrata Szövetség Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România | |
 | |
| Leader | Gunor Kelemen |
| Established | 1989 |
| Headquarters | |
| Ideology | Hungarian regionalism , Fractions: liberal conservatism Christian democracy social democracy |
| International | European People's Party |
| Website | udmr.ro |
The party is not registered in Romania in the traditional sense of the word, but acts legally (including participating in elections) as an organization representing a national minority. The party was founded on December 25, 1989. Since 1993, the party has been led by writer Bela Marco . In the period from 1996 to 2008, the party was a member of the ruling coalitions or supported the government without joining them.
Following the results of the 2008 parliamentary elections, the party won 22 seats in the lower house and 9 seats in the Senate. In December 2009, DSER became a coalition partner of the Democratic Liberal Party [1] . In exchange for supporting Emil Bock’s second cabinet, party leader Bela Marco became First Deputy Prime Minister, Hunor Kelemen , Minister of Culture, Religion and National Heritage Affairs, Attila Cheke, Minister of Health, Laszlo Borbei, Minister of Environment and Water. The appointment of a non-Orthodox writer in Hungarian, Kelemen, to the post of Minister of Culture, Religion and National Heritage, has caused much controversy in Romania. So, the vice-president of DLP Cesar Preda called his appointment one of the biggest political mistakes of recent years [2] . In order to avoid possible difficulties in the future, religious issues were removed from the competence of the Minister of Culture and transferred to the Prime Minister.
In 2004, party leader Bela Marco ran for president of Romania and gained 5.1% of the vote. In the 2009 presidential election, party representative Hunor Kelemen received 3.8% of the vote. In the European Parliament, the party is represented by two deputies from 33 seats reserved for Romania.
The party stands for the creation of national Hungarian autonomy, for expanding the scope of the Hungarian language in administration and education, for increasing the autonomy of local authorities and for the further integration of Romania into the European Union .