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For nearly eight years, no one took issue with the place name signs bearing “Várhegy” located in the ethnic Hungarian majority-inhabited Kovászna (Covasna) County, Romania, but now they have been labeled “illegal.” According to a Romanian civic organization, the name does not officially exist. The locals, however, experience the removal as a historical injustice.
The dispute was triggered by the Romanian Civic Forum of Covasna/Kovászna, Harghita/Hargita and Mureș/Maros counties, which filed a complaint last week with the Covasna County Prefect’s Office. They argued that the “Várhegy” sign on county road DJ121A is unlawful, since Várhegy is not listed in Romania’s official registry of localities. In their statement, the organization claimed that the exclusively Hungarian-language sign violates the Constitution and administrative law and undermines the authority of the Romanian state.
The signs were originally installed in 2017 by Ilie Nicolae, former mayor of Boroșneu Mare/ Nagyborosnyó who represented the PSD political party. While Várhegy is indeed not an independent administrative unit and has been part of Lueta/Lécfalva since 1899, its historical significance is indisputable, says the current mayor, Antal Kanyó of RMDSZ He finds it striking that the civil forum only started objecting to the signs now, under an ethnic Hungarian-led local government and an ethnic Hungarian prefect, whereas no one was bothered by them previously under ethnic Romanian leadership.
“[. . . ] It wouldn’t bother me to see Ukrainian or Moldovan language signs in Moldova [the region in Romania],” Kanyó stated. The mayor plans to replace the removed signs with brown, historic markers bearing the Hungarian-language inscription “Műemlékvár” (historic castle).
Historic background: Várhegy has been inhabited since ancient times, with Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Roman artifacts found there. In the 16th and 17th centuries, it was a center for the Székely people’s uprisings and assemblies, who built the castle. Although little remains of the fortress today, the site holds strong symbolic significance for the local community. Over 90 percent of the commune to which Várhegy belongs identified as Hungarian in the last census.
Thus, the tension between historic heritage and current legal regulations persists—the “Várhegy” name has been removed from road signs, but locals believe the past cannot simply be erased with a screwdriver.
