FUEN paid a one-day visit to the European Parliament in Brussels

FUEN (Federal Union of European Nationalities) Vice-President Halit Habipoğlu paid a visit to Brussels on 13 November 2014 to meet Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and to discuss several issues concerning FUEN activities, membership and the formation of the new Intergroup for minorities in the European Parliament. 

Mr Habipoğlu began his visits by meeting in his office MEP Pál Csáky (Slovakia/EPP-Christian Democrats) who belongs to the Hungarian minority in Slovakia. His party, the Party of Hungarian Community in Slovakia, is one of the members of FUEN. The meeting mainly focused on the formation of the Intergroups at the European Parliament and Mr Csáky stated that his office was making a strong effort to convince the other MEPs to vote for the establishment of the Intergroup for traditional minorities, national communities and languages, which is the most important and the most relevant Intergroup to FUEN’s activities. He said that the Intergroup would probably be established at the beginning of December 2014 although they encounter quite a strong resistance from other MEPs who are fighting for other priorities. 

The second and the third meetings were with Bulgarian MEPs from Turkish origin, namely MEP Nedzhmi Ali and MEP Ilhan Kyuchuk who are both members of the ALDE Group (Liberal Democrats) in the European Parliament. FUEN Vice-President Mr Habipoglu focused mainly on two issues on which he asked for more efforts from these MEPs. The first issue was about the establishment of the Intergroup for minorities in the European Parliament. Mr Habipoglu tried to convince both the MEPs to be more active in this process and to vote for the setting up of this Intergroup among 20 others. The other subject was the membership of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (the party that both MEPs are member of) to FUEN. In replying to the questions of the MEPs on the possiblitiy for a political party to be a member of FUEN, Mr Habipoglu stated that the membership was open not only to NGOs but also to political parties. He gave the examples of the Party of Hungarian Community in Slovakia and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania which are members of FUEN as political parties of Hungarian minorities. Both MEPs stated that they would try to do their best for the establishment of the Intergroup for minorities and also would raise the issue of membership of their home parties to FUEN at their party meetings. 

Mr Habipoglu finished his meetings by reminding the MEPs that the next FUEN Congress will take place in Western Thrace in 2015 and he invited them to this huge event.