Autonomy does not mean separation!
"Our desire for autonomy is not to be confused with the separation East-Ukrainian militants are fighting for. They don’t want autonomy for the region they live in, they are militating for independence” – stressed RMDSZ MEP Csaba Sógor during his visit on Friday to Maramureș county.
Csaba Sógor pointed out: ”It is crucial that we distance ourselves from the perception that we are similar to the separatists from Eastern Ukraine. Autonomy means self-determination within a state, and there are many good examples for this across Europe like South-Tirol or the Swedish community in Finland. We ask for cultural and territorial autonomy within Romania, and this would mean no disadvantage to the Romanian majority at all.” Sógor also mentioned that some news media outlets do a lot of damage when comparing Ukrainian separatists to the Hungarian minority in Romania.
"We need to make a lot of effort to change the public opinion and to make Romanians see that the whole country would have only to gain from the autonomy we ask for. If the public can be persuaded of this, than we will have a chance of convincing decision-makers, too”, said Csaba Sógor.
