The EU needs to listen to the voice of minorities
MEPs voted on several reports concerning the enlargement process of the European Union during the second plenary session of the European Parliament in March. DAHR’s MEP Csaba Sógor expressed his opinion about the reports on the accession of Serbia and Kosovo.
Here follow the MEP’s speeches from the 28th of March on the enlargement process:
“- All Western Balkan countries chose the path of European accession; it is from this process that the population of the region expects better living conditions, economic growth and the solution of ethnic tensions. The people of Serbia, Serbs, Hungarians, Roma, Romanians, Albanians and Croatians, all desire these outcomes. But the future EU citizens will be disappointed if the EU does not pay attention to the resolution of minority problems. The best way of solving ethnic tensions is by granting political autonomy. This is the right path in Serbia’s Voivodina region, too. For a long time, this solution seemed to be right for Kosovo as well, but time surpassed the possibility of intra-state solutions. I ask the Commission and the member states not to let the countries in the region lose their European perspective. We need to pay attention to their problems, even if this means taking part in solving their ethnic conflicts.”
“- While in the 1990s we heard about the demand for autonomy of the Albanians in Kosovo, today Kosovo stands as an independent country that is recognized by most EU member states. The road in-between hasn’t been smooth; it required bloodshed, many victims, as well as the loss of two decades of economic development. Perhaps the Serbian government didn’t realize that, by taking away Kosovo’s autonomy, it took the first step towards the region’s separation. And perhaps the international community didn’t realize that it contributed to the outbreak of armed violence when it didn’t take Rugova’s peaceful demonstrations seriously. The possibility of self-governance for traditional national minorities in regions with mixed ethnic populations, such as the Western Balkans, is a prerequisite for peace. This is what we can learn from Kosovo’s recent history. The EU needs to listen to the voice of the minorities more than it has done so far.”
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During the one-minute speeches Csaba Sógor briefed the President and his colleagues about the problems related to the naming of Primary School no. 2 in Târgu Mureş:
“- We are all well aware that the peaceful co-existence of nationalities in Europe is conditioned by mutual respect, understanding and the knowledge and acceptance of each others’ culture and symbols. This is even more important when two nationalities live in the same country, in the same town. This is the situation in the Romanian town of Târgu Mureş, where ethnic Romanians and Hungarians each constitute about half of the population. Nevertheless, contrary to ethnic proportions, there is not a single primary school in the town named after a historic personality of Hungarian origin; they are all named after Romanians. After an initiative of some parents, one of the schools is to be named after a former Hungarian mayor of the town, but the initiative is being obstructed in every way possible by the Romanian leadership of the school and the Romanian majority in the local council. I feel that in such situations we need to follow the same guidelines that led to the peaceful co-existence of European nationalities: mutual respect and understanding. In a multi-ethnic town this can be achieved through the enforcement of multilingualism at the level of national symbols as well.”
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On the second day of the plenary, the 29th of March, DAHR’s MEP Csaba Sógor spoke about the obstacles facing the rights of EU citizens and the particular case of Bulgaria and Romania with regard to the “EU Citizenship Report 2010: Dismantling the obstacles to EU citizens’ rights”.
- The report shows that the most well known right amongst citizens is the right to free movement and residence. On the other hand, most of the petitions complain about the infringement of these rights – observed the Hungarian MEP from Transylvania. He also added that this means that citizens identify the EU mostly with the right to free movement. In other words, the disappearance of physical and virtual borders between countries is the main achievement of the EU.
The MEP called attention to the fact that citizens are most sensitive to the infringements of the right to free movement: - Although the petitions show many irregularities, we must not forget that citizens of two member states cannot feel they are full citizens of the EU. Moreover, to this day they have not received the reasons for this situation. The unexplained delay of Romania’s and Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen Area infringes upon the EU citizenship rights of the citizens of these two member states. Do we need 27 million petitions for this situation to change? – asked Csaba Sógor.
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?reference=2011/2182(INI)&l=en
“- All Western Balkan countries chose the path of European accession; it is from this process that the population of the region expects better living conditions, economic growth and the solution of ethnic tensions. The people of Serbia, Serbs, Hungarians, Roma, Romanians, Albanians and Croatians, all desire these outcomes. But the future EU citizens will be disappointed if the EU does not pay attention to the resolution of minority problems. The best way of solving ethnic tensions is by granting political autonomy. This is the right path in Serbia’s Voivodina region, too. For a long time, this solution seemed to be right for Kosovo as well, but time surpassed the possibility of intra-state solutions. I ask the Commission and the member states not to let the countries in the region lose their European perspective. We need to pay attention to their problems, even if this means taking part in solving their ethnic conflicts.”
“- While in the 1990s we heard about the demand for autonomy of the Albanians in Kosovo, today Kosovo stands as an independent country that is recognized by most EU member states. The road in-between hasn’t been smooth; it required bloodshed, many victims, as well as the loss of two decades of economic development. Perhaps the Serbian government didn’t realize that, by taking away Kosovo’s autonomy, it took the first step towards the region’s separation. And perhaps the international community didn’t realize that it contributed to the outbreak of armed violence when it didn’t take Rugova’s peaceful demonstrations seriously. The possibility of self-governance for traditional national minorities in regions with mixed ethnic populations, such as the Western Balkans, is a prerequisite for peace. This is what we can learn from Kosovo’s recent history. The EU needs to listen to the voice of the minorities more than it has done so far.”
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During the one-minute speeches Csaba Sógor briefed the President and his colleagues about the problems related to the naming of Primary School no. 2 in Târgu Mureş:
“- We are all well aware that the peaceful co-existence of nationalities in Europe is conditioned by mutual respect, understanding and the knowledge and acceptance of each others’ culture and symbols. This is even more important when two nationalities live in the same country, in the same town. This is the situation in the Romanian town of Târgu Mureş, where ethnic Romanians and Hungarians each constitute about half of the population. Nevertheless, contrary to ethnic proportions, there is not a single primary school in the town named after a historic personality of Hungarian origin; they are all named after Romanians. After an initiative of some parents, one of the schools is to be named after a former Hungarian mayor of the town, but the initiative is being obstructed in every way possible by the Romanian leadership of the school and the Romanian majority in the local council. I feel that in such situations we need to follow the same guidelines that led to the peaceful co-existence of European nationalities: mutual respect and understanding. In a multi-ethnic town this can be achieved through the enforcement of multilingualism at the level of national symbols as well.”
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On the second day of the plenary, the 29th of March, DAHR’s MEP Csaba Sógor spoke about the obstacles facing the rights of EU citizens and the particular case of Bulgaria and Romania with regard to the “EU Citizenship Report 2010: Dismantling the obstacles to EU citizens’ rights”.
- The report shows that the most well known right amongst citizens is the right to free movement and residence. On the other hand, most of the petitions complain about the infringement of these rights – observed the Hungarian MEP from Transylvania. He also added that this means that citizens identify the EU mostly with the right to free movement. In other words, the disappearance of physical and virtual borders between countries is the main achievement of the EU.
The MEP called attention to the fact that citizens are most sensitive to the infringements of the right to free movement: - Although the petitions show many irregularities, we must not forget that citizens of two member states cannot feel they are full citizens of the EU. Moreover, to this day they have not received the reasons for this situation. The unexplained delay of Romania’s and Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen Area infringes upon the EU citizenship rights of the citizens of these two member states. Do we need 27 million petitions for this situation to change? – asked Csaba Sógor.
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?reference=2011/2182(INI)&l=en
