Below is an article published by International Herald Tribune:

Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom on Monday called on Romania to increase autonomy for ethnic Hungarians living mainly in the northwest of the country.

Solyom, who met with his counterpart Traian Basescu during a two-day visit to Romania, called on the Romanian parliament to speed up passage of a draft law that grants more rights to minorities, including more autonomy in cultural matters.

He also called for more Hungarian-language universities and departments to be established and asked Basescu "to help accelerate the return of property belonging to ethnic Hungarian churches." Romania also wants property in Hungary belonging to the Orthodox Church to be returned or used for cultural projects.

Basescu said that while the two countries had different minority policies, they both met European Union standards on minority rights.

An ethnic minority of about 600,000 people with ties to Hungary, the Szeklers were holding a ballot in several towns on whether to seek greater autonomy for their region.

Results will be submitted to parliament in support of legislation granting autonomy to ethnic minorities, organizers said.

Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu, who also met with Solyom, said the voting was unconstitutional and warned that Romanian law did not allow for autonomy on ethnic grounds.

The party representing Romania's 1.4 million ethnic Hungarians, which backs more autonomy for them, also criticized the Szeklers' ballot, calling it "unhelpful" and saying it created tensions.

"We already know the answer to the question on the ballot - yes, we want more autonomy," Kelemen Hunor, a lawmaker for the Democratic Union for (ethnic) Hungarians in Romania told Realitatea television.

The Szeklers rejected accusations their actions were separatist. They said they only wanted to test the opinions of residents.

"We only want to show that we want to feel better on our native land," Arpad Andrassy, a Szekler leader, told state news agency Rompres. "The reality in European countries is that the right to self-determination of a minority is guaranteed, as it is also the right to free expression of opinions."

Nationalist politicians called for organizers of the ballot to be prosecuted. But Romania's Interior Ministry said that organizing an informal poll was not illegal.

The status of ethnic Hungarians in Romania has sometimes been a source of conflict between the neighboring countries, but relations have generally improved in recent years.