I fantasized once Hungary joined the European Union (EU), a sudden transformation would take place. Leaves on trees would grow greener, fish in the Tisza bigger and the homeless that gather on street corners where I live would suddenly find homes. To my disappointment, these transformations didn’t take place. What I have noticed, however, is that prices have skyrocketed, services are abound, and Budapest is increasingly beginning to look, on the surface, like most European capitals.

Things are pretty normal here, and I thought it was time to have a look around. An invitation that landed in my email box to the Transylvanian International Film Festival (TIFF) was the answer, and off I was, crossing the borders of the new EU.

Arriving in the City of Cluj Napoca, or Kolozsvár, there was an atmosphere of carnival. The streets were bustling with young people, ethnic Hungarians and Romanians mingled together, film fanatics from around the globe wandered through this town ... all arriving at a rather glitzy affair.

The carnival also had its perverse side, witnessed as politics lurked in the background. While it was a weekend to celebrate the culture of the silver screen, it was also a weekend of local elections in Romania, and in Cluj, the controversial mayor Gheorghe Funar and his Romanian National Unity Party were standing for office, after holding the seats of power in Cluj for some 12 years.

Funar and his 12 years had left their mark on the city. Cluj, formerly a Hungarian city, is still the home to a large number of ethnic Hungarians who had certainly been aggravated to no end by the mayor’s antics. He painted the park benches, flag-posts and even garbage cans the national colors of Romania. He also put up painted Christmas lights throughout the whole downtown area. And in a move that could only be meant to incite tensions, and highlight a total lack of sensitivity, Romanian flags flew on monuments dedicated to Hungarian heroes.

I spent days in the dark, meanwhile, watching movies from all around the world. Young Romanians suavely mingled with the international film directors, actors and journalists. They were ethnic Hungarian and Romanian, all mingling together, more interested and excited about tasting the colors of the world than the ongoing elections.

Funar ended up losing his post the day after the film festival ended.

As I left the next day, the park benches and garbage cans were still tainted as my train pulled out of the train station. Things don’t change overnight, I thought, as I arrived at the EU border.

Andrew Princz
Editor