My European Story
Double nationalities, mobility, minorities…. Very often around us interesting experiences, which can change and a person´s ife, take place. Citizens of Europe likes to know about them and to understand better how and why they happen. Let´s listen to the following „European Story“.
A life between two countries
It was last March that I got two nationalities. I was born in Romania, but my mother language is not Romanian but Hungarian. This might be difficult to understand, if you do not know that in Romania there are several minorities. 18 international minorities are recognized, for instance, Hungarian (6.6%), Roma (2.5%) or German (0.3%). The Hungarian minority in Romania is the largest one in the European Union. The Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) represents the Hungarian minority in Romania.
I grew up in a small town, close to the Hungarian border. With my family I always spoke Hungarian, but I used Romanian outside my home, in the library or in the post etc. I attended a Hungarian school, and afterwards found my love for German. Therefore I decided to do a Bachelor in „German Philology“. Due to the many minorities in Romania you can study in four languages: Romanian, Hungarian, German and English.
When I was a child it was hard to understand why people around me spoke a language, which was so different to the one I spoke at home. Hungarian is a Finno-Ugric language and Romanian has a Latin origin as Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese. The two languages are very different, there is barely any similarity between them.
I have no relatives in Hungary, my family was born in Transylvania and has always lived there. Maybe that’s why I never wanted to move to Hungary and start a new life there. When I was a child everything I knew about Hungary was just through media, films and books. It was not until I was older that I personally discovered the beauty of the country. Furthermore I longed for a country where people understood my mother language.
When I got to know that it is possible to belong to Hungary, I was very happy. I compiled the requested documents and my Curriculim Vitae and went to Debrecen to submit them. Six months later I received the news that my naturalization ceremony would take place on 11th March in Berlin. I was overjoyed.
On 11th March I attended the naturalization ceremony at the Hungarian Embassy together with the other minorities from different countries. Besides it was a great honor that the President of the Country, Áder János, was there and congratulated the participants.
This day, one of my biggest dreams since I was a child became real! Maybe I’ll never live in Hungary, but now I’m officially a member of the country and that’s a good feeling.
(The author is Melinda Dósa, who is 25 years old and was born in Romania. She lives in Dortmund, where she does her European Volunteering Service. She graduated in Public Relations and Publicity in Cluj-Napoca.)