The Székely Freedom Day ( hu, Székely Szabadság Napja; ro, Ziua Libertății Secuilor) is a day celebrated by the

Székely Székely may refer to: *Székelys, Hungarian people from the historical region of Transylvania, Romania **Székely Land, historic and ethnographic area in Transylvania, Romania * Székely (village), a village in northeastern Hungary *Székely (sur ...

Hungarian minority of

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. It is celebrated every 10 March in

Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; hu, Marosvásárhely ) is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the List of cities and towns in Romania, 16th largest Romanian city, with 134,290 inhabitants as of the 2011 Romania ...

, but also in other parts of

Székely Land The Székely Land or Szeklerland ( hu, Székelyföld, ; ro, Ținutul Secuiesc and sometimes ; german: Szeklerland; la, Terra Siculorum) is a historic and ethnographic area in Romania, inhabited mainly by Székelys, a subgroup of Hungarians. ...

and internationally. The holiday was created according to a decision of the

Szekler National Council The Szekler National Council ( hu, Székely Nemzeti Tanács, ; ro, Consiliul Național Secuiesc, ) is a NGO civic organization representing the Székelys of Romania. The organisation serves as a platform to promote Szekler autonomy. History The ...

on 6 January 2012. The same council said that this day (10 March) was chosen to commemorate the execution of Mihály Gálffy,

Károly Horváth Károly Horváth (26 October 1950 – 4 November 2015) was a Romanian-born composer and musician. He spent most of his professional life in Hungarian theatre. Biography Born in Oradea, Horváth graduated from the Music Lyceum in 1970 and w ...

and

János Török János or Janos may refer to: * János, male Hungarian given name, a variant of John Places * Janos Municipality, a municipality of Chihuahua ** Janos, Chihuahua, town in Mexico ** Janos Biosphere Reserve, a nature reserve in Chihuahua * Janos T ...

in 1854 at Târgu Mureș. They were Székely

revolutionaries A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

who, after the defeat in 1848, reorganized in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

but were later caught and executed by the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

's authorities. There have been complaints as, on this day, there are often protests for the autonomy of the Székelys, which have caused conflicts between the protesters and the Romanian authorities. In addition, the holiday has been attended earlier as well by Hungarian far-right parties and groups such as

Jobbik The Movement for a Better Hungary ( hu, Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom), commonly known as Jobbik (), is a conservative political party in Hungary. Originating with radical and nationalist roots, at its beginnings, the party described itself ...

and the

Sixty-Four Counties Youth Movement The Sixty-Four Counties Youth Movement ( hu, Hatvannégy Vármegye Ifjúsági Mozgalom, HVIM) is a far-right movement originating in Hungary and also present in Romania, Slovakia and Serbia, advocating the unification of all ethnic Hungarians tha ...

. Protests for the autonomy of the Székelys have also occurred in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

as a sign of support. In 2020, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, events related to the Székely Freedom Day suffered restrictions. The same year, a collection of signatures that were to be sent to the European Citizens' Initiative was carried out. This was done mainly with the intention that the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

(EU) would provide support to the Hungarian regional communities in Romania.

References

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Day A day is the time period of a full rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar day, which is the length between two so ...

Annual events in Romania Winter events in Romania Observances in Romania March observances Public holidays in Romania 2012 establishments in Romania

See also

References