Kinga Gál, an MEP of ruling Fidesz, on Tuesday attended a European Parliamentary working group meeting focused on ensuring the participation of ethnic minorities in the ongoing conference on the future of the European Union.
If the EU wants to be closer to the people, it must also listen to what national minorities have to say, Gál said in a statement.
Gál, who is the co-leader of the EP’s working group on ethnic and linguistic minorities, invited European Commission Vice President Dubravka Suica to the group’s meeting.
Tuesday’s session, Gál said, had provided another opportunity to discuss how Europe’s ethnic minorities can participate in the ongoing conference on the bloc’s future. She said the group’s members had aimed to emphasize the importance of including the views of the EU’s ethnic and linguistic minorities in the conference.
Gál asked Suica about two European citizens’ initiatives urging greater protection for national minorities that recently collected the required number of one million supporting signatures.
She said it was “regrettable” that the European Commission had rejected “every single proposal” submitted in connection with the Minority SafePack initiative. She added that it was “outrageous” that while the body was “going on about being close to the people, it simply turns its head when it comes to putting that into practice”.
Featured photo by Balázs Mohai/MTI
