A dispute has arisen over Hungary's decision to raise the flag of Szekely Land — the region where a subgroup of ethnic Hungarians live in Romania — at the parliament in Budapest. This is the most recent incident exemplifying the historical divisions between the two countries that date back centuries. Located between Central and Southeastern Europe, Romania and Hungary have a long shared history. Most of the territories of modern-day Hungary and Romania at one point were under Ottoman and later Habsburg rule. The official border between the two nations has repeatedly moved from one side of the Carpathian Mountains to the other since the Middle Ages. The most recent significant redefinition of borders took place after World War I, when Hungary lost two-thirds of its territory to its neighbors, including Transylvania to Romania. As a result, Hungarians became the largest minority group in Romania. According to the 2011 census, there are about 1.2 million ethnic Hungarians in Romania, making up 6.5 percent of the total population. Half the Hungarians living in Romania are Szekelys, a Hungarian-speaking subgroup living mostly in what is known as the Szekely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania. This region enjoyed various degrees of autonomy until 1968, when the Communist government reformed the administrative divisions of the country to eliminate any identification of regions by ethnic or cultural divisions. These divisions are still in place, which has led to the creation of several initiatives by ethnic Hungarians who want to re-establish autonomy. The dispute over the Szekely Land comes at a unique moment. Both Hungary and Romania are feeling the consequences of the economic crisis in Europe. This is particularly true in the Szekely region, one of the poorest in Romania, making it particularly susceptible to political manipulation, from both Romanian and Hungarian politicians. To a large extent, ethnic minorities in Romania largely want to preserve their cultural identity — the ability to teach their own language in schools or fly their own flags, for example. These issues alone do not represent an immediate threat to the territorial unity of the country. However, the European crisis has strengthened regionalist sentiments that were previously dormant elsewhere, and Romania fears the quest for more cultural autonomy could escalate rapidly. In addition, the European crisis is creating fertile ground for the rise of nationalist parties that criticize the presence of "foreigners," which they consider both immigrants and minority groups in their countries. It is this confluence of factors that makes the use of nationalist rhetoric in Romania and Hungary increasingly dangerous with the deepening of the economic crisis.
