The Székely National Council (SZNT) does not want the European Commission (EC) led by Ursula von der Leyen to sweep off the table in a month or two the European citizens' initiative launched for the national regions and supported by 1.2 million citizens, so the document is waiting with its submission - stated Izsák Balázs SZNT president at the Sepsiszentgyörgy press conference.
"As long as the president of the committee is Ursula von der Leyen, and her vice-chairs include Frans Timmermans and Vera Jourová, we will not put it on the table, and the successful citizens' initiative will remain suspended," declared Izsák, who also holds the position of president of the citizens' committee of the initiative Balázs. He added that they are confident that a conservative turn will occur in the European Union in 2024, and then they will have a better chance of submitting the initiative to the European Commission.
The president of the SZNT noted in response to a journalist's request: for citizens' initiatives launched after 2019, the rules have already been amended and a deadline has been set for submission. However, the initiative launched for the national regions is not constrained by any deadline.
He reminded her that they launched their citizens' initiative in 2013, but at that time the European Court of Justice believed that it clearly did not have the authority to settle the proposed issue, and therefore refused to register the initiative. In 2019, the Brussels committee was forced to register the initiative after six years of litigation and a judgment handed down by the EU court in Luxembourg. This was followed by the collection of signatures, the course of which was severely hampered by the coronavirus epidemic and the measures taken to curb it. However, the EC also took into account the difficult circumstances of collecting signatures and extended the duration of the process from one year to two years.
Among the supporting signatures of the citizens' initiative, 1.2 million were recognized as authentic by the competent national authorities, and in eight countries instead of the required seven, the number of recognized signatures exceeded the set threshold, thus fulfilling the conditions for submitting the initiative.
Izsák Balázs also reported that in the past two days he visited the 34 settlements in Székelyföld along the route through which nine years ago the Szeklers of Makfalv reached Háromszék, the great march of the Székelys . He added: he met the mayors, priests, and public property managers of 17 villages, and this time he was also convinced that their initiative was appropriate.
He believed: The economic isolation of Székelyföld continued in the past decade despite the fact that the mayors of Székelyföld who were visited did everything for the development of their settlements. It is therefore necessary for the European Union to pay close attention to those regions that are distinguished from their surroundings by their culture, language, and national identity. Otherwise, these regions cannot keep up with the development of the majority regions. He believed that this is why it is necessary for the EU to pay particular attention to the development of national regions in addition to mountain regions and islands.
Source: Magyar Hírlap/MTI
Image: Szekelyfold.ma
