Alsace, which would like to leave the Grand Est region, hopes to benefit from the movement driven by Corsica, which has just negotiated with the government a project recognizing a status of autonomy within the Republic.
“The Alsatians are attentive to what is happening in Corsica, the expectation is high
,” notes Frédéric Bierry, president (LR) of the European Community of Alsace (CEA), merger of the departmental councils of Haut-Rhin and Bas -Rhine since 2021.
Alsace was integrated into the Grand Est Region in 2015, along with Lorraine and Champagne-Ardenne, but Mr. Bierry, representing the voice of many Alsatians, would like to see it regain its autonomy.
As such, the recent progress on the status of Corsica
“should suit us
,” he told journalists.
“We cannot consider that certain territories are legitimate, such as Corsica, to be able to have additional rights to act, and not take into account other territories which have a particular history, such as Brittany and Alsace”
, continued Mr. Bierry.
“It would be inconsistent. Above all, we have a democratic logic which supports our approach, and a historical and geographical logic
,” added the manager, while seeking to reassure.
“Our project is in the institutional mold
,” he continued, recalling the citizen consultation in which 150,000 Alsatians took part in 2022. More than 92% of them favored the reestablishment of an Alsace region. in its own right.
A “historical, linguistic and cultural” community
Mr. Bierry thus underlined, in a letter sent on Wednesday to the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, that unlike the Corsican project, the Alsatian would not require a revision of the Constitution.
“In Corsica, it is more shared, but in Alsace there are no doubts about the attachment to France.
All of this is likely to reassure and facilitate our approach
,” Mr. Bierry wants to believe, stressing that
“our approach is democratic and peaceful
. ”
The president of the CEA also hoped that Emmanuel Macron would speak out on this issue ahead of the European elections,
“that would make sense”
.
However, the head of state somewhat dampened Alsatian hopes the last time he spoke on the subject, in April 2023, saying he was
“committed to ensuring that we do not create new divisions”
.
The Alsatian autonomist party Unser Land also welcomed the agreement reached regarding the autonomy of Corsica.
Corsica
“is a “historical, linguistic and cultural community having developed a singular link to its land”, according to the terms used in the agreement reached on the subject of Corsica.
Alsace is no less so
,” underlines Jean-Georges Trouillet, president of Unser Land, in a press release.
“For almost 10 years now, an immense majority of Alsatians have been demanding the exit from the Grand Est, a request expressed by all possible democratic means: petitions, demonstrations, surveys, public consultation organized by the CEA, resolutions from Alsace councilors, proposals of law signed by almost all of the Alsatian deputies
,” he continues.
“The European perspective also allows us to have a more objective approach to the realities of this country. Regional autonomy is the democratic standard in Europe. France still remains a centralized presidential monarchy with institutions that no one among our neighbors envy. From this point of view, the agreement reached with Corsica is only a timid beginning of normalization, the beginning of an exit from the Stone Age
,” he concludes.
In addition to Corsica and Alsace, Brittany and the Basque Country have already expressed their desire to obtain more autonomy.
The president of the Brittany region, Loïg Chesnais-Girard, said on Tuesday that he had asked Gérald Darmanin to
“recognize the diversity of territories within a common framework”
.