Romanian Hearth Union

Romanian Hearth Union

Uniunea Vatra Românească
Formation	February 1990[1]
Type	NGO
Region served	Romania

The Romanian Hearth Union^[2][3] or Romanian Hearth Federation^[4] (Romanian: Uniunea Vatra Românească) is a far-right nationalist movement^[5] and civic organization,^[2] founded in Târgu Mureș in 1990.^[4]

One of the founding members of the Hearth Union was Ion Iliescu.^[6][7] The main purpose of the organization is to save Romanians "hunted down in their own country" from the Hungarians viewed as "hordes plaguing humanity".^[4] The emergence of the "Romanian Hearth" was helped by ex-Securitate officers.^[4] The organization has been described by various sources as quasi-fascist,^[8] radical nationalist,^[4] xenophobic ultra-nationalist,^[9] anti-Hungarian^[10] and anti-Semitic.^[11] It was associated with the former political party of Romanian National Unity Party (PUNR),^[4] but had also ties to the Social Democracy Party of Romania (PDSR),^[12] Greater Romania Party (PRM) and the Democratic Agrarian Party of Romania (PDAR).^[13]

The Union received support from the then-ruling National Salvation Front and president Iliescu, hoping to increase the popularity of the front in the area of Transylvania.^[14][15] In 1992, the Union had around 4 million supporters, and the PUNR formed electoral coalitions with Iliescu's Democratic National Salvation Front in several Transylvanian counties for the 1992 election.^[16] PUNR was part of the political coalition that governed Romania between 1992 and 1996.

See also

• Ethnic clashes of Târgu Mureș
• Red Pentagon

References

1. Valentin Borda. Vatra Românească
2. "Romania". International Religious Freedom Report 2007. United States Department of State. Archived from the original on 2019-05-27. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
3. George W. White, Nationalism and Territory: Constructing Group Identity in Southeastern Europe, Rowman & Littlefield, 2000, p. 161
4. Mihaela Mihailescu, Dampening the Powder Keg: The Role of Democratic Oppositions in Fostering Ethnic Peace in Post-Communist Romania and Slovakia, ProQuest, 2006, pp. 116-117
5. Harden, Blaine (1990-03-21). "Hungary protests Romanian mob action". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2017-07-22. Retrieved 2017-07-22.
6. "Iliescu da vina pe maghiari pentru conflictul de la Targu Mures - HotNews.ro". 25 March 2005.
7. http://www.edrc.ro/docs/docs/extremism_ro/04_extremism_ro_003.pdf
8. Gale Stokes, The Walls Came Tumbling Down: The Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe, Oxford University Press, 1993, p. 174
9. Robert Bideleux, Ian Jeffries, The Balkans: A Post-Communist History, Routledge, 2007, p. 144
10. Juliana Geran Pilon, The Bloody Flag: Post-Communist Nationalism in Eastern Europe : Spotlight on Romania , Transaction Publishers, 1982, p. 67
11. Joseph F. Harrington, American-Romanian Relations, 1989-2004: From Pariah To Partner, East European Monographs, 2004, p. 34
12. "BJCT |".
13. "Partidul Vatra Românească – Comunicat | Lista Națională".
14. Jenne, Erin K. (30 May 2014). Ethnic Bargaining: The Paradox of Minority Empowerment. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-7179-7.
15. https://web.archive.org/web/20170724104801/http://revista22online.ro/58046/.html
16. Ethnic Politics in Eastern Europe: A Guide to Nationality Policies, Organizations, and Parties. M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 978-0-7656-1911-2.