Minorities in Romania fought hard for the right to use their native tongue at the local level, but more than 20 years after the law changed, its implementation is patchy, BIRN and \u00c1tl\u00e1tsz\u00f3 Erd\u00e9ly have found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cTough\u201d and \u201cbrutal\u201d is how B\u00e9la Mark\u00f3 recalls his battle on behalf of ethnic minorities like him to use their mother tongue in dealings with Romania\u2019s public administration at the local level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was 2001 when ethnic Hungarians like Mark\u00f3, then leader of the ethnic Hungarian DAHR party, and 18 other officially recognised minorities won the right to use their native languages in public administration in those regions where they account for more than 20 per cent of the population, overcoming fierce opposition from Romanian nationalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n