Romania (AP) - Thousands of ethnic Hungarians in Romania dressed up saddled up horses and then paraded in the northwest Transylvania region on Wednesday to celebrate Hungary's national holiday Hungarians wearing traditional costumes rode horses and carried large Hungarian flags Hungarians dressed in vintage Hussar uniforms and raised the blue and yellow flag of the Szeklers an ethnic Hungarian group living in eastern Transylvania There are around 1.4 million ethnic Hungarians living in Romania mainly in Transylvania which was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire for centuries until 1918 Some are seeking greater territorial autonomy and privileges for the community a desire that has become more vocal since Viktor Orban became Hungary's prime minister in 2010 More than 90 percent of the residents Targu Secuiesc The 15th-century city became part of Romania after World War I and briefly returned to Hungary in 1940 before reverting to Romanian control after World War II ethnic Hungarians have traditionally held parades in Transylvania on March 15 to celebrate the Hungarian national holiday which marks the anniversary of the 1848 revolution against the Habsburg empire This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Thousands of ethnic Hungarians call for autonomyAPTARGU SECUIESC Romania (AP) — Thousands of ethnic Hungarians held rallies on Sunday to demand autonomy for their minority group in the areas where they live in Romania and riding horses and carriages — were held Sunday in 14 communities of Transylvania thousands marched to the Romanian Embassy carrying a sign reading "Territorial autonomy for Szeklerland" referring to the stretches of Romania where ethnic Hungarians are concentrated There were also rallies held in the Hungarian cities of Debrecen and Szolnok said it would send a petition to the European Union and the Romanian government to call for the cause of Szekler autonomy to be taken into consideration Transylvania was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire until after World War I when the ethnic Romanian majority in Transylvania created Romania ethnic Hungarians make up about 6 percent of Romania's population of 19 million Community leader Kelemen Hunor told The Associated Press on Sunday that they want territorial autonomy to maintain their ethnic identity and grow economically Romanian politicians have opposed granting the minority that privilege The Hungarian minority region in Romania is to open an office in Brussels Bucharest sees the move as a Hungarian provocation the daily Romania Libera as merely an example of European regions wanting more money and more autonomy The Hungarians in Romania want territorial autonomy and because they cannot get it from the Romanians The opening in Brussels of an office symbolically baptised “Székelyland,” through which the inhabitants of the departments of Covasna Harghita and Mureş could move more quickly and more easily to gain access to European funds has reopened the case of “mioriţa” concerns [a reference to an old Romanian pastoral ballad which has specific references to the Romanian identity] Since 1919 the Romanian political elite has been distressed at regular intervals by the idea of ​​losing Transylvania through the influence of Budapest on this province which was modernised under the last Habsburgs at the same time as the rest of Central Europe and through the ability of the Romanian Magyars to broadcast their pleas beyond the borders of the country set up through the efforts of Pastor László Tökés [Vice-President of the European Parliament] is not “useless for the EU and a gratuitous provocation,” as suggested by the former Foreign Minister Cristian Diaconescu Nor is it “an unprecedented attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Romania” as declared – in a panic – by the Liberal MEP Ramona Mănescu it is a dual solution: practical and emotional the architect of the lobbying bureau in the European capital is trying in particular through this innovation to attract to his side the Magyars in Transylvania by showing them that they can reap benefits not just by stretching out a hand to Bucharest as the UDMR [Democratic Union of Magyars of Romania member of the governing coalition] have been doing but also by opening roads to the institutions of Brussels In the next election Tökés wants to take the reins of a new formation the Popular Party of Magyars of Transylvania László Tökés is sketching out for the Magyars in Transylvania a map of possibilities that goes beyond the two power centres to which the Hungarian minority has usually looked for favours The Székelyland office in Brussels is lodged in the House of Hungarian Regions for reasons more of economy than politics but the snuggling up under the wings of Budapest has rekindled feelings of fear It was made possible by Voxeurop’s community High-quality reporting and translation comes at a cost To continue producing independent journalism Subscribe or Donate The Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi is expressing on behalf of the government the traditional fear of Hungary – as if Budapest really could get its hands on chunks of Transylvania Romania “is not shocked for nothing,” said the chief diplomat arguing that the designation of a “Székelyland” would be “a process by which a popular name is wrongly portrayed as the identifying name of a region.” The leaders of the PSD (Social Democratic Party) and PNL (National Liberal Party) also want to “stand up against” the separatist intentions of Magyars within the Romanian Parliament can explain how the Székelyland office undermines the integrity of Romania President Traian Băsescu takes a “dim view” of this approach yet recognises that there are no “political consequences” and that it just shows “an element of lack of consideration for the Constitution and for Romanians.” The sensitivity of the Romanian leaders to the ideas of the inhabitants of the Székely province who want more money to come back into their counties neglected for years by the administration in Bucharest shows that the political elite remains a slave to certain stereotypes and historically outdated prejudices the exaggerated response of Romania’s politicians to latent dangers can be interpreted as insecurity: a large state frightened by the imperialist history of its neighbour Voxeurop depends on subscriptions and donations from its readers The supermarket chain Profi has opened up six new stores this week and thus crossed the threshold of 700 stores in the entire country Targu Secuiesc and Timisoara have adopted the City format The new store in Cluj is the 25th in the city having a total surface of 135 square meters With stores in 382 municipalities and a team of almost 13,000 employees, PROFI is the most geographically extended modern retail network in Romania. 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