Groups with parliamentary representation in the parliamentary chamber in Vitoria-Gasteiz approved an institutional declaration supporting the “Minority SafePack” European initiative in favour of the security of national minorities and a number of regulatory developments in the European Union that enable the promotion of minority rights, language rights and the protection of their cultures.

The Basque Parliament has encouraged Basque citizens to give their support by signing the “Minority SafetyPack” initiative in favour of the rights of minority languages ​​in Europe. To this end, all of the parliamentary groups have agreed an institutional declaration, which in line with the citizens’ initiative, calls on the European Union to take responsibility and be a genuine promoter of cultural and linguistic diversity in Europe; and similarly, it urges the member states of the European Union to observe the Copenhagen criteria that protect the rights of minorities.

Accordingly, the jeltzale parliamentarian Maialen Gurrutxaga stressed that the “Minority SafePack” includes a series of bills in favour of the safety of national minorities. “It is series of regulatory developments in the European Union that enable the promotion of the rights of minorities, linguistic rights and the protection of their cultures, its aim being security and regulatory developments for minorities”, she said.

In this respect, the European Citizens’ Initiative is an instrument of direct democracy introduced by the European Union in 2012, so that “if more than one million European citizens  support a citizens’ initiativeand at least seven member states reach their national threshold, the European Commission is obliged to examine that proposal.”