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| == External links == | == External links == | ||
| *'''', an August 2005 photoessay by Christopher Culver showing the legacy of Funar's mayorship. | |||
| *'''' – about a marrying couple getting in trouble by saying "yes" to each other in their own language (Cluj, 2002). | *'''' – about a marrying couple getting in trouble by saying "yes" to each other in their own language (Cluj, 2002). | ||
Revision as of 00:17, 6 October 2006
Gheorghe Funar (b. September 29, 1949 in Sânnicolau Mare) is a Romanian politician, who rose to fame as mayor of Cluj-Napoca between 1992 and 2004.
He became well-known for his very strong nationalist stance in favor of ethnic Romanians in Cluj-Napoca, which is a multi-ethnic city with a large ethnic Hungarian population and a substantial representation from other ethnic groups, including Roma. Transylvania was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire prior to World War I; the transfer of the region to Romania in 1919 was perceived as a significant loss by many Hungarians, who viewed it as an integral part of Hungary despite the fact that a majority of the Transylvanian countryside was ethnic Romanian.
Funar was a candidate for presidency from PUNR ("The Romanian National Unity Party") in 1992 and 1996. In 1997, after he was expelled from PUNR, he joined the far-right Greater Romania Party. Funar lost the Cluj-Napoca mayoral elections in the first round in 2004. Emil Boc of the Justice and Truth Alliance won the elections during the second round run-off elections against Social Democratic Party (PSD) candidate Ioan Rus.
Funar is currently the General Secretary of the Greater Romania Party and is a Member of Parliament. Among his proposals in the national government is the distribution of Romanian-language Bibles to all citizens, and the raising of a statue of Mihai Eminescu in every commune.
Mayorship of Cluj
While many voters may have claimed that they voted for him only due to his economic policies, Funar's views demonstrated that tensions over Transylvania's ethnic identity continued after the end of Communism in Romania in 1989 and more than seventy years after Transylvania became a part of Romania. His views were often manifested in public policy. Among many other measures and, and seen by many as an affront to the ethnic Hungarian community, Funar required the municipality to paint many public items—including park benches, pavements and even garbage bins—in the colors of the Romanian flag (blue, yellow and red). At Christmas time, the municipality was allowed to use only red, yellow and blue Christmas lights.
In 1993, the city's central plaza "Piaţa Libertăţii" (Liberty Square) was renamed "Piaţa Unirii" (Unification Square), to imply the 1919 unification of Transylvania and Romania. He changed the label of the statue of Matthias Corvinus from "Matthias Rex Hungarorum" (Matthias King of Hungarians) to just "Matthias Rex". In September 1996, when Romania signed a friendship treaty with Hungary, Funar organized a funeral ceremony on the streets of Cluj-Napoca. In 1997, he hung a banner in front of the Hungarian Consulate in Cluj saying "This is the seat of the Hungarian spies in Romania". Many of Funar's changes were reversed under the mayorship of his successor, Emil Boc.
References
- Thorpe, Nick (2002). Hungarians unwanted in Romania census. BBC News. Retrieved March 5, 2006.
External links
- BBC World Service - Letters from Budapest: Nick Thorpe on the right to say 'yes' – about a marrying couple getting in trouble by saying "yes" to each other in their own language (Cluj, 2002).