Recent political events in Romania have highlighted the uniqueness of Transylvania, a region in the heart of the country that has always stood apart from its neighbors.
In 2025, new presidential elections were held in Romania. These elections, though unconventional, were necessitated by the invalidation of the 2024 election results. That year, the far-right, pro-Russian, ultranationalist candidate Călin Georgescu had won the first round with nearly 23% of the vote. A commission of inquiry quickly denounced Russian interference and called for a rerun of the elections. The following year, despite his notable absence from the campaign trail, another far-right candidate, George Simion, led the first round. He ultimately lost on May 18 to the pro-European candidate, Nicușor Dan.
Several factors can explain this turnaround between the two May 2025 elections, notably a greater mobilization of the Romanian population fearing the arrival of Russophile leaders. Looking at the distribution of votes for Nicușor Dan, it quickly becomes apparent that he achieved his best result in Transylvania, and more specifically in Harghita County, where he won over 90% of the votes (despite not being the favorite in the first round). An event that occurred between the two rounds seems to have catalyzed this citizen response: the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, discreetly declared his support for Simion. It must be said that, in addition to their anti-European positions and immigration policies, the two men's platforms converge on many points, from their nationalist visions to their promotion of "Christian values." But it is precisely with regard to these last two points that Transylvania constitutes a stumbling block.
A rebellious principality
Before becoming part of Romania after the First World War, this region in the center of the country belonged to Hungary. Long enjoying relative autonomy from Budapest, the Principality of Transylvania was a crossroads where numerous populations met: Bulgarians, Romanians, Germans, and Hungarians (Szeklers). The principality gained particular prominence in the 16th century when, at its head, Stephen Bocskai defied the Hungarian crown by defending a persecuted Protestant minority. From then on, the principality became a haven for Calvinist and Lutheran Hungarians. At the end of the 17th century, censuses estimated that 90% of the Transylvanian population was Protestant (mostly Reformed): a contingent largely fueled by the religious wars in neighboring Hungary. At the end of the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which had fought alongside the Germans, was dismembered by the Treaty of Trianon. Georges Clemenceau, the chief architect of these negotiations, redrew the borders in Central Europe: Austria and Hungary became two independent countries, and the latter lost 60% of its territory, notably Transylvania, which was given to the very Orthodox Romania.
Throughout the 20th century, various Romanian regimes attempted to unify the country, but ultimately encountered resistance from Transylvania, which remained a hotbed of dissent where the population asserted its ethnic, linguistic, and religious distinctiveness. In 1989, it was notably a Transylvanian Calvinist pastor, László Tőkés, who instigated the arrest and subsequent execution of the Ceaușescu couple, who had been in power since 1965. Even the extremely strict dictatorship of terror established by Nicolae Ceaușescu failed to extinguish faith in the country, and certainly not in Transylvania, where it became a source of identity in the face of a regime intent on erasing all the nuances of its people.
To this day, Transylvania remains a point of contention between Budapest and Bucharest. In 2010, the Hungarian Parliament passed a law guaranteeing dual citizenship to Transylvanian Magyars, thus allowing them to participate in Hungarian elections.
Orbán, Simion and Transylvania
Viktor Orbán is the primary beneficiary of this change: himself a member of the Reformed Church, he has repeatedly affirmed his support for the Hungarians of Transylvania and emphasized the religious bond that unites them. George Simion, a staunch Orthodox Christian, strongly advocates for a Romania united by the Church, language, and law. His positions have been perceived as threats by the Hungarians of Transylvania; the Hungarian Prime Minister's announcement of his support for Simion was therefore seen as a betrayal by many Transylvanians who voted en masse for Nicușor Dan, the pro-European mayor of Bucharest, in the second round.
Conclusion
In addition to the tensions between Hungary and Romania, these recent events have brought back to the forefront of geopolitical issues the problems posed by borders in Central Europe, where they manifest themselves particularly in sectarian tensions. It is the link between faith and national identity that, in countries with a communist past, has contributed to redefining the place of religion in current public discourse.
Diane Niquin