Europe\u2019s future is built or lost in local communities \u2013 and when we talk about cooperation with Switzerland, this is especially true for border regions with minority populations.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
At the plenary session of the Committee of the Regions, I spoke on the opinion regarding the territorial dimension of relations with Switzerland. My message was short but clear:
\nBorders do not separate \u2013 they connect. We can only build security, development, and a shared future if those closest to the people are included in decision-making.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
Harghita County, as a mountainous, multilingual, minority region, knows exactly what it means when decisions are made about us \u2013 without us \u2013 either from Brussels or Bucharest. That is why I emphasized that in the new agreements with Switzerland, not only the states but also the regions and communities must have a say.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
The Swiss cantons provide an example of how subsidiarity can be taken seriously. Decisions are made where people live. This is the same request we have for EU\u2013Switzerland relations: local authorities \u2013 including regions in the Sz\u00e9kely Land \u2013 must be active participants in shaping our shared future.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
We are not talking about administrative participation, but meaningful involvement in content.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
That is why I also highlighted that:
\n\u2022 Minority communities, like ours, are not decorative elements but the custodians of European diversity.
\n\u2022 Regions like Harghita County cannot be excluded from decisions just because they have fewer resources.
\n\u2022 Cooperation with Switzerland should not be a privilege of central authorities, but an opportunity for regions.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
I called for the Committee of the Regions and local authorities to be involved in both the implementation and evaluation of agreements. Our citizens do not live in capitals \u2013 they live with us, in counties, villages, and communes.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
Switzerland and the EU differ in many ways \u2013 but in taking responsibility for local communities, we can build an exemplary relationship.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
The voice of the Sz\u00e9kelyf\u00f6ld cannot be quieter than that of other regions.
\nAnd as long as I am at the negotiating table, it will not be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Europe\u2019s future is built or lost in local communities \u2013 and when we talk about cooperation with Switzerland, this is especially true for border regions with minority populations. At the plenary session of the Committee of the Regions, I spoke on the opinion regarding the territorial dimension of relations with Switzerland. My message was short […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[84],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1515"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1517,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1515\/revisions\/1517"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}