- Press releases
The South Tyrolean People’s Party (SVP), the FUEN member organisation in South Tyrol, Italy, and one of the initiators of the citizens’ initiative of the European minorities, started its regional campaign for the Minority SafePack Initiative yesterday. The “Minority SafePack” is a set of measures and concrete legal acts to promote and to protect the European minorities as well as the regional and minority languages.
“We support this citizens’ initiative of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN), aimed at the European Union”, stressed Philipp Achammer, Arno Kompatscher, Daniel Alfreider, Herbert Dorfmann, Martha Stocker and Luis Durnwalder at a media conference yesterday. Until 3 April 2018 at least one million signatures have to be collected from at least seven EU Member States.
“The decision to engage in this citizens’ initiative was officially adopted at the FUEN Congress in June 2013 in Brixen, South Tyrol – for a diverse minority system in Europe that is based on solidarity“, said former FUEN Vice President Martha Stocker about the project to define and implement new enforceable standards in the EU. Since 2013 former South Tyrolean President Luis Durnwalder has been part of the citizens’ committee for the “Minority SafePack”; he continues to support the “important solidarity initiative” and commands: “We, minorities must take a united stand!”
Member of the European Parliament Herbert Dorfmann was of the opinion that minority policy is still the poor relation in many EU Member States: “The citizens’ initiative is a chance to increase awareness for these relevant issues.“ South Tyrol should provide an example in this regard. FUEN-Vice President Daniel Alfreider said that it is impossible to solve all the minority problems: “However, it is certainly possible in this context to pursue a common, borderless goal with this instrument of participation.” Autonomy is considered “normal” in South Tyrol, but outside the country borders it is, unfortunately, not so obvious.
In order to commit the European Union to implement the measures of the “Minority SafePack”, one million signatures from at least seven EU Member States are required. “The South Tyrolean People’s Party (SVP) will actively engage in the campaign through its network“, said SVP-Chair Philipp Achammer, “because of the solidarity between the minorities and in order to send out a signal in favour of diversity in Europe.” In the coming weeks and months SVP will campaign for this – and collect signatures: “We call on all South Tyroleans to send together a strong message. And to show that autochthonous minorities are an enrichment and added value for the European Union.
President Arno Kompatscher underlined (like Philipp Achammer) that the “Minority SafePack” is not an issue of party-politics: “The government of South Tyrol stands unequivocally behind this important initiative.” The initiative aims at equal rights for all languages in Europe – and at the establishment of a Language Diversity Centre. Research into the added value of minorities shall be intensified and there should be an approximation of the rights of stateless minorities to those of EU citizens. Furthermore, national barriers for media content should be abolished.
