Transylvanian bishop's MEP nomination receives setback

Transylvanian Bishop László Tőkés may not stand as a European member of Parliament because the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ) will not amend its MEP candidates list.

The Federal Council of Representatives, the small, non-legislative body of RMDSZ, passed a decision to that effect in Tirgu Mures at the weekend. The Transylvanian Calvinist Diocese's top leadership called on the body to nominate the bishop as a candidate.

Those signing an open letter in favour of Tőkés' candidacy to RMDSZ president Béla Markó included former president Ferenc Mádl, one-time reformist communist Mátyás Szűrös, Hungarian Academy of Sciences president Szilveszter E. Vizy, and Fidesz-era foreign minister János Martonyi.

Otherwise they will call on the religious faithful to vote for Tőkés, who will run as an independent candidate at the May 13 Romanian EU parliament elections. Markó described the move as "blackmail."

The above story is just one of more than two dozen published today by Hungary Around the Clock, the most comprehensive source of daily English-language news about Hungary. For a free trial of HATC, click here. Hungarian news sources include Népszabadság; Magyar Hírlap; Világgazdaság; Napi Gazdaság; Magyar Nemzet; Népszava; Kossuth Rádió news and Hungarian television's nightly news broadcast.

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