According to Izsák Balázs, the slogan „We mobilize Europe for Szeklerland!“, used since 2013 can now be put in past tense. The President of the Szekler National Council (SZNT) spoke about this at a press conference held in Sepsiszentgyörgy on Friday with the occasion of the midnight closing of the collection of signatures in support of the European Citizens' Initiative on national regions.
Izsák Balázs said that during the signature collection, lasting for two-years due to the coronavirus pandemic, more than 1.4 million EU citizens signed the initiative, and by the time of the press conference ten countries (Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Croatia, Ireland, Spain, Latvia, Slovenia, Sweden, and Lithuania) gathered more signatures than was required by the EU. He added, however, that the collection of signatures in Belgium has gained momentum in recent days, and by midnight the threshold will certainly be exceeded there as well. At the time of the press conference, the signatures collected in Belgium were at 98%, and only 222 signatures were still needed to exceed the threshold.
The president of the SZNT recalled: in 2013, the banner with the slogan „We mobilize Europe for Szeklerland!“ was first displayed at the Makfalva Picnic in May, when the European Citizens' Initiative was launched. After six years of litigation for its registration and two years of collecting signatures in support, the slogan can now be put in past tense.
He emphasized: last year, it was the resolution of the Hungarian Parliament that gave a great impetus to the signature collection. The resolution showed that the entire Hungarian society was behind the initiative. He also called the anti-Hungarian statement of Romanian President Klaus Iohannis from last April, „an unexpected help“, as it gave new impetus to the signature collection.
„The opposition is also helping the good cause. (...) Whatever obstacles they set, they are helping against their will“ – said the community leader, who also leads the initiating committee.
He recalled that their advertisements on social media have been blocked several times by the algorithm. However, in every case he managed to clarify that the subject of the advertisement is a citizens' initiative registered by the European Commission, for which the EU provides an internet interface for collecting signatures, and that he is the leader of the initiating committee, so the ban was lifted each time.
The president of the SZNT designated the authentication of the signatures as the next task. He expressed hope that the conditions for validity will be met even after the authentication process.
He added that the signatures collected on paper must be shredded by February 2022, so the authentication process needs to conclude by then. He stated that they wanted to register at the European Commission the initiative, which is supported by EU citizens, when there is the greatest chance for the process to be successful and for the committee to initiate legislation. Until then, they want to focus on building a European movement for national regions.
Izsák Balázs stated that the movement already has two members, as he talked with Tőkés László, the president of the National Council of Hungarian in Transylvania (EMNT) on Tuesday, who assured him of the support of the EMNT.
Source: MTI Press on 07-05-2021
Szekler National Council