The Citizens' Initiative for National Regions aims to support peoples, nations, countries, national communities that are not currently recognized by the European Union. The initiative is not about protecting minorities! Many people do not understand why the Flemish and Flanders, did not support the Minority SafePack citizens' initiative. It is because it was obvious and natural to them that they are not a minority, but a people, a nation, a country. The Scots, the Catalans, the Basques, and we, the Szeklers, are all on the same opinion. We are the majority in our homeland, and we have kept that majority for hundreds of years, even under foreign rule.
On April 6, 2017, when the Minority SafePack was registered, we made it clear that it does not solve the problems of regions inhabited by national communities, peoples and nations, it does not guarantee the sustainability of regional cultures, and does not eliminate the possibility of Member States using the means given to them by the European Union, in support of policies that enable assimilation.
Only three and a half months are left to collect the one million signatures in support of the national regions. Let us make the citizens' initiative successful, as Europe's cultural diversity is guaranteed not only by the states, but also by national regions that are not currently recognized by the European Union. This is precisely what we wish to achieve through the citizens' initiative called Cohesion Policy for Equality in the Regions and Sustainability of Regional Cultures: to make the European Union recognize, and furthermore support the national regions, and to make the preservation of the identity of the majority communities living in these regions an integral part of the legal and institutional system of the European Union - in accordance with its founding documents.
Those who wish to treat peoples, nations and countries as minorities in this day and age, have been stuck in the mindset from the middle of the past century, from before the European ethno-regional movement has vigorously and markedly split itself from the protection of minorities, making the right to self-determination their primary goal, rather than linguistic rights.
The UN Charter declares the equality between nations large and small. As such, the sovereignty of a people cannot be dependent on their numbers. That is why we are fighting for regional equality and the sustainability of regional cultures, which is why we demand territorial autonomy for Szeklerland as an institution of self-determination.
Izsák Balázs
President of the Szekler National Council
Marosvásárhely, January 17, 2020
Photo: Children Philharmonic of Szentegyháza