In response to Archduke Dominic Habsburg’s attempted sale of what is popularly known as Castle Dracula (see our article from July), opposition parties in the Romanian parliament are trying to annul the agreement that returned the castle to his family. In a resolution last week they found the original deal null and void.
The case is raising a royal ruckus in the capital. The governing coalition views the restitution of the castle (seen at right in an AP photo) as compensation for the injustices the Habsburgs suffered under Communist rule, and they see the demand to nullify the restitution as a relapse into the communist era. MP Marton Arpad of the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania said “This decision is an embarrassment for the Romanian Parliament.” In a statement to Time, he said “We fought 17 years to get away from Communism, now we seem to be going straight back.” He called the vote in parliament a “violation of the constitution that will set Romania back years.”
The opposition claims that the heirs will be able to keep the castle provided that the agreement is executed in a proper fashion. According to MP Dumitru Puchianu of the Democratic party, “Romania does not want to to take back the Castle. If the royal house has a strong, solid argument they will get it back.”
Habsburg, who lived in the castle until he was four, is also directly involved in the debate and the emotions. In a letter to parliament, he wrote “I live once more with the feeling of dread in which I once lived as a child, when my family and I were forced out of our home and thrown into the streets in midwinter.” He called the attempt to take the castle a “dreadful injustice.” His lawyers said they will sue Romania for $200 million.
The Constitutional Court is expected to settle the issue sometime in the next month. Stay tuned.