Mr. president, Mr. mayor, friends of Hungary, Italy, Kosova, Slovenia ...

Mariag

Sujets

• Convergence démocratique de Catalogne
• Catalogne
• Autonomisme
• Convergence et Union
• Internationale libérale
• Catalanisme
• Centrism
• Libéralisme
• Jordi Pujol
• Artur Mas

Informations

• Publié par: Voxpopuli
• Nombre de lectures: 20
• Langue: Catalan

Extrait

Mr. president, Mr. mayor, friends of Hungary, Italy, Kosova, Slovenia,

Macedonia, Bosnia,

friend Oriano, ladies and gentlemen,

Firstly I bring you the greeting of our leader, Mr. Artur Mas, who we hope will be

the President of Catalonia the next autumn. We had spoken with Oriano about

our desire for having him today within us. But not only the Catalan elections are

too near, also the Spanish political and institutional crisis have him busy and

tied to Barcelona. You might know that the Spanish Constitutional Court is

living a very important crisis in relation a sentence against the Catalan

autonomy. In any case, I would like to give all you his greeting.

Once this has been said, I have to explain that I am here politically in

representation of the Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya, conjointly with

Mr. Marc Guerrero, present today here as I am like vice-president of the

European Liberal Party, but than I have to recognize you that it’s a personal

pleasure to be here today. Whit the signature of collaboration among the

Democratic Assembly of Istria (Istrian Democratic Assembly) and

Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya, we stamp an old friendship.

It is a friendship that we have started some years ago with your president, Mr.

Ivan Jakovcic, and our president, who was at that time our leader, also the

leader of Catalonia, Mr. Jordi Pujol. They defended the European regionalism

in the Assembly of the Regions of Europe. They were regionalist and defenders

of the power of the autonomic governments and identities. But they not only

shared this. Also they had in common a deeply democratic feeling and an

Europeanness very active. Afterwards, the Treaty of Lisbon perhaps -sure- has

not picked up all the regionalist expectations. However, in those wills we

persevere.

This collaboration has been followed by another generation, already not in the

institutional frame, but in the area of the European Liberal Party. In the

executives or in the congresses of the ELDR Party we have started a good

personal and political friendship with Oriano Otocan. There, the people of the

Istrian Democratic Assembly and of the Convergènica Democràtica de

Catalunya we always had coincided in votes and approaches. Any case, we

have to thank your support when some months ago in a Congress in Barcelona

we obtained your unconditional support for the choice of Mr. Marc Guerrero to

be vice-president of the ELDR.

This entire story has

to serve us for continuing defending the regional

powers, and nations without state in Europe. Also it has to make us allies in the

defense of Mediterranean policies. Catalonia complains, but I am sure that

Istria also, that the Union for the Mediterranean will be not only a name. It will

take projection and a true instigator of policies of development and the stability

on the two sides of this sea.

Finally, in this necessarily brief intervention, I have to say that our complicity is

on your side to make possible that Croatia becomes a full member of the

European Union. I do not know enough the dossier Croacia-EU for speaking

about the details. Nevertheless, I can tell you that in the next months

Convergència can have a very strong position in Catalonia and in Spain. We

will put all our political force to promote the incorporation of Croatia in Europe. I

personally am very in favor of the incorporation of Turkey. However, it is

undoubted that the European geography has to complete its puzzle finally

incorporating all the pieces of the Balkans.

Well, I reiterate, it is a pleasure to be here and to stamp our friendship this with

an agreement.