Fostering the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes: An Overview of the Case of the Hungarian Optants (1922-1930)
Fostering the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes: An Overview of the Case of the Hungarian Optants (1922-1930)

Summary/Abstract: In 1931, one year after the conclusion of The Hague Agreement (January 20, 1930) and Paris Agreement (April 28, 1930), Nicolae Titulescu declared that the case of the “Hungarian optants” had been definitively closed. Therefore, the dispute could only be seen as a page of history meant to be studied without passion, aiming only at a better understanding of the past and learning lessons for the future1 . The starting point of this issue was the implementation of the agrarian reform in the case of the ethnic Hungarian landowners originating from territories united with Romania after the First World War (Transylvania, Banat, Crișana and Maramureș), but who had opted for the Hungarian citizenship. The Romanian authorities argued that the expropriations were in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty of Trianon and that an equal treatment of its citizens and the optants was ensured during the process. However, the Hungarian government claimed that the Romanian agrarian reform infringed the same treaty, namely its regulations regarding the intangible real estates of the ethnic Hungarian landowners.

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