President Traian Basescu declared on Monday, in a common press conference with his Hungarian counterpart Pal Schmitt that Romania does not aim for a regional autonomy but for an autonomy of communities regarding the central government, Romanian news agency Mediafax informs. Basescu urged people in Romanian, first of all to be good citizens, to respect the law, to pay their taxes and afterwards to call for other benefits, like the possibility to speak what language their prefer, Hungarian President Pal Schmitt declared.

Schmitt declared that President Basescu taked about autonomy and the idea of subsidiarity but that topics will be discussed in detail bilaterally. He told the press that Hungary would support the three regions in Romania where Hungarian ethnics are living but underlined that autonomy of the regions is a huge responsibility and does not entail only liberties and rights.

At his turn, President Basescu said that Romania does not aim for a regional autonomy but for an autonomy of the communities in relation to the central government. Such an autonomy would simplify some things, like: increased financial autonomy, the decision to invest the money is made locally and children can opt for the teaching language. Other benefits, according to President Basescu are: local administrations can have their own police force, they manage local hospitals as well.

Basescu said that all citizens ned such an autonomy and that Romania does not have a problem of minorities.