Autonomy exists only where there is autonomous thinking
On 4 April, at the invitation of the youth organisation of the Christian-Democrat Platform of RMDSZ from Sfântu Gheorghe, Csaba Sógor held a lecture on topics such as current EU affairs, the activity of the European Parliament and the rights of European citizens.
In his introduction Csaba Sógor explained that the European Union must consider the legislative system and culture of 28 countries, which demands slower steps. The Hungarian MEP from Transylvania mentioned that, seen from the member states, the European Parliament’s activity is less spectacular, considering that it has to deal with issues such as food security, child protection, migration and demographic trends.
“The European Union does not have mandatory provisions for member states in all fields, in many cases it only formulates recommendations and strategic guidelines and, as any good pedagogue, it hopes that we are able to learn from each other and follow good examples”, emphasized the MEP.
The students present asked the RMDSZ politician about several current topics, such as the stance of the European Union regarding the situation from Crimea, the situation of Roma people, minority protection and the EU’s view on the issue of autonomy for Szeklerland.
Related to the last issue, Csaba Sógor explained: „The European Union does not take stand regarding the autonomy aspiration of none of its national communities. It only requires from its member states to respect the mother tongues and cultures of their minorities and to ensure that the fundamental rights of any European citizen are not infringed upon”. Sógor added that autonomy exists only where there is autonomous thinking. In the view of the MEP this means „tending to the earth our grandfathers left us, respecting our roots and traditions and building our communities”. He also added that Hungarians must convince their Romanian fellow citizens that they do not call for autonomy based on ethnicity, but territorial autonomy in which both nations have the same rights.
“The European Union does not have mandatory provisions for member states in all fields, in many cases it only formulates recommendations and strategic guidelines and, as any good pedagogue, it hopes that we are able to learn from each other and follow good examples”, emphasized the MEP.
The students present asked the RMDSZ politician about several current topics, such as the stance of the European Union regarding the situation from Crimea, the situation of Roma people, minority protection and the EU’s view on the issue of autonomy for Szeklerland.
Related to the last issue, Csaba Sógor explained: „The European Union does not take stand regarding the autonomy aspiration of none of its national communities. It only requires from its member states to respect the mother tongues and cultures of their minorities and to ensure that the fundamental rights of any European citizen are not infringed upon”. Sógor added that autonomy exists only where there is autonomous thinking. In the view of the MEP this means „tending to the earth our grandfathers left us, respecting our roots and traditions and building our communities”. He also added that Hungarians must convince their Romanian fellow citizens that they do not call for autonomy based on ethnicity, but territorial autonomy in which both nations have the same rights.
