Call to support the Szekler National Council’s EU citizens’ initiative

In February 2008, shortly after it was signed the Lisbon Treaty, that enables EU citizen’s initiative, the Szekler National Council decided to initiate an EU-wide legal act, regarding the rights of all autochthonous peoples and ethnic groups, with particular regards to the right to self determination. Later, this decision was confirmed, and steps were made to launch this initiative.

The aim is an EU-wide legal act, that would protect those European regions which preserve national, linguistic and cultural characteristics, from economic discrimination, and ensures their economical development in a way that their regional identity remains unharmed, that is to say their national, linguistic and cultural characteristics remain unchanged. We are convinced that this can be achieved, if the regions in question are provided with the institutions of self government with adequate competences for the preservation of the region’s characteristics and its appropriate economical development, in order to sustain the EU’s harmonious development, while preserving its diversity.

For the initiative to succeed, one million signatures must be collected from at least seven countries of the European Union. This must be done in one year from the registration of the initiative. This can only be accomplished, if we start recruiting volunteer signature collectors before the registration. To this end, we created the website www.nationalregions.eu

I ask the delegates and sympathizers of the Szekler National Council, all of Szeklerland’s local governments and civil organizations, all Hungarian allies and all involved in the protection of European National Regions, all citizens of the European Union interested in deepening European democracy to sign up for the volunteer staff through the above mentioned webpage. We will send more precise information regarding the duties for each volunteer to the e-mail address provided.

Marosvásárhely - Targu-Mures, the 23^rd of April 2012

Izsák Balázs

President of the Szekler National Council