Its founders were mostly nationally minded intellectuals, including Sándor Csoóri, Zoltán Bíró, István Csurka and Sándor Lezsák. They stood in the ideologic tradition of the "népi-nemzeti" ("populist-" or "rural-national") movement, which has been opposed to the "urbánus" ("urbanist") school of thought since the end of the 19th century. The Forum focussed on national and cultural traditions, aimed at radically democratic grassroots politics and a "third way" between capitalism and communism. One of the issues that bothered them was the menacing situation of the ethnic Hungarian minority in neighbouring Romania under Nicolae Ceaușescu.