Celebrating the success of the Minority SafePack in the European Parliament

On May 3-4 the FUEN is holding a conference in Brussels, under the high patronage of the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani. The conference entitled Hit the road - the Minority SafePack Initiative and the European Parliament is being hosted by RMDSZ MEPs Iuliu Winkler and Csaba Sógor, representatives of the Hungarian community in Romania.

The two-day conference started with a constructive internal meeting, strategizing the Minority SafePack (MSPI) petition campaign, followed by a working-dinner in the European Parliament. The event started with a welcome message from the two hosts MEPs of the RMDSZ followed by German-speaking Belgian Senator and Vice President of the Committee of the Regions, Karl Heinz Lambertz. "The EU has changed and so has its position regarding minorities. The main challenge is to prove that we do not want to burden Europe with another problem, instead diversity is a unique selling point and the only right way is to accept it and create cooperation and mutual understanding around it." - he said adding that it is similarly important to get the support of the majorities.

FUEN President Loránt Vincze agrees with Mr Lambertz and recalled that the idea of the MSPI was first discussed in the same room in 2012. He praised and thanked everyone in the room for supporting the cause despite this long journey. "We want to change the face of Europe, put the minority question on the agenda. It finally looks like we will manage to do so. After a surprising positive scenario, I am optimistic that we will succeed, thanks to the wide solidarity we created around the MSPI." - Vincze said. The FUEN was also represented at the event, by Jens A. Christiansen, Speaker of the European Dialogue Forum, and Vice President Gösta Toft. Both stemming from the Danish-German border region, which is a stronghold of the FUEN and the MSPI.

Former President of the FUEN Hans Heinrich Hansen spoke on behalf of the Citizen’s Initiative Committee and expressed his gratefulness and pride for the victory: "We have achieved something not just for the minorities but also for all of Europe, for the civil society. After our successful registration I believe that it is now easier to start a citizens' initiative. We are giving back hope for the civil society." The next speaker was MEP Herbert Dorfmann from South Tyrol. He talked about the role of the region and assured the audience, that the autonomous region in Italy will deliver a large number of signatures.

Member of the Citizen’s Initiative Committee, Valentin Inzko, UN High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina and President of the NSKS Slovenian organization in Carinthia (Austria), stated: "I love the European Union, but I must be critical to it: we should be more forceful and be able to fill in more space. Europe is already a much better place than it was, but it still has to live up to the expectations of its citizens and the European initiative is an important tool in this sense." Closing remarks were made by, the host (together with fellow MEP Csaba Sógor) Hungarian MEP, Iuliu Winkler.

Thursday is scheduled to start with a message from the President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani, followed by FUEN President Vince Loránt. Member of the Citizen’s Initiative Committee, former FUEN president Hans Heinrich Hansen, Vice Chairman of the Citizen’s Initiative Committee, and President of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ) Hunor Kelemen will make presentations. FUEN Vice President and Member of Parliament in Italy, Vice President of the South Tyrolean People’s Party, Daniel Alfreider, will present best practices for minority protection, followed by speeches by legal experts and a debate. Iuliu Winkler will have the opening words, while Csaba Sógor will make the concluding remarks.