During the plenary debate of the European Parliament on the European Citizens' Initiative for the Protection of National Regions – similarly to the hearing held by the Committee on Regional Development – a cross-party and cross-ideological unity emerged among Members of the European Parliament in support of the initiative.
Hungarian MEPs from Romania (Gyula Winkler, Loránt Vincze) and Hungary (Kinga Gál, Gabriella Gerzsenyi, Viktória Ferenc) unanimously supported the initiative and drew the European Commission’s attention to its repeated and cumulative failures. The Commission not only neglects the Union’s cultural diversity but also disregards the will of the citizens, thereby undermining direct democracy. From the organizers’ point of view, the statement issued by the Fidesz–KDNP Group in the European Parliament is of particular importance, as it firmly declares: the European Citizens' Initiative for the protection of national regions is not a domestic issue of any member state, but a deeply European matter.
Solidarity with the initiative was expressed by several MEPs who, in line with its intentions, compared the situation of national regions as cultural islands to that of outermost, border, or island regions.
Many speakers saw the European Citizens’ Initiative as a vital opportunity to take meaningful steps toward addressing the EU’s demographic challenges—steps which are particularly needed in certain regions, including national regions.
A recurring theme was the lack of recognition of national regions at both EU and, in many cases, national level, which also brought some traditional fault lines to the surface during the debate, such as the divergence of views between Silesian and Polish positions.
Several speakers used the initiative to call the European Commission’s attention to the fact that EU citizens clearly want a more decentralized budget. They criticized the Commission’s proposal to reallocate unused cohesion funds toward defense spending or aid for Ukraine as misguided.
Romanian MEPs opposed the emerging European unity, speaking out against the initiative regardless of party affiliation. It is regrettable that they continue to misunderstand the substance of the initiative, repeatedly invoking the Romanian official position—a position that has already been rejected six times by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
In her opening and closing statements, Hadja Lahbib, speaking on behalf of the European Commission, gave a lengthy account of the Commission’s achievements in preserving Europe’s cultural diversity. She emphasized how seriously the Commission takes non-discrimination, an issue that the citizens’ initiative highlights.
She pledged that the European Commission will make a decision on the citizens’ initiative by September 4, specifically whether it will propose legislation or take any other measures in accordance with the will of more than 1,200,000 people.
For the organizers, the key takeaway is that the many grievances and criticisms voiced by MEPs against the Commission have no more coherent conceptual framework than the citizens’ initiative launched for the protection of national regions. This initiative provides direction for joint action and may serve as the foundation for a European regional movement.
Târgu Mureș,
Balázs Izsák
President of the Szekler National Council
11 July 2025
Our symbols 
Autonomy
Szekler National Council