Romanian court orders removal of Székelyudvarhely monument

The Arad County Tribunal has ordered the removal of the ‘Vándor székely hazatalál’ (Wandering Szekler Returns Home) bust located in the Memorial Park of Székelyudvarhely, Romania. The ruling follows a lawsuit filed by the Association Against Antisemitism and Legionary Movement (APCAL) against the local mayor's office and city council.

APCAL argues that the monument depicts the writer Wass Albert, who was sentenced to death in absentia by a Cluj people's court in 1946 for war crimes related to the 1940 North Transylvania occupation. The legal basis for the removal is the ‘Vexler Law’, passed in late 2025, which prohibits the public promotion of fascist, legionary, racist, or xenophobic ideologies, as well as the cult of war criminals.

The Székelyudvarhely municipality has contested this interpretation, stating that the bust does not depict Wass Albert but rather an allegorical figure representing the scattered Szekler people. Local officials claim the sculptor, János Blaskó, provided documentation to support this view. The court has granted the municipality 30 days to take the necessary legal and administrative steps for removal. The decision is not yet final and can be appealed within 15 days.