Nationalia - Latest news

Opinion poll shows pro-independence parties could win an overall majority in Flanders

Thu, 17 May 2012 17:00:00 +0200

Pro-independence parties in Flanders could receive 50.6% of votes if a parliamentary election in Belgium was held now. An opinion poll by La Libre Belgique says that pro-independence conservative New Flemish Alliance (N-VA in Dutch) would garner 38.6% of votes, while secessionist anti-immigration Vlaams Belang would get a further 12%.

Very far from the N-VA, the Socialists would be the second party in Flanders (14.2%), while the Christian Democrats (CD&V) could get 13.6%. The Liberals (Open VLD) would fall up to 10%.

Meanwhile in Wallonia, the Socialists would still be the strongest party (31%). The other parties would stay relatively stable except for the far-right National Front (Belgian nationalism), that could get a share of 6% of the vote in the French-speaking region.

Flanders/Vlaanderen

General information
Population: 6,117,440 inhabitants (2007)
Area: 13,522 km²
Institutions: Flemish government
State administration: Belgium
Major cities: Brussels, Antwerp
Territorial language: Dutch
Official language: Dutch
Major religion: Christianity (Catholicism)
National Day: 11 July

"A language policy without outside interference": civil society defines "minimum demands" for Basque

Thu, 17 May 2012 12:00:00 +0200

A linguistic policy with no interference from outside and an adequate status are the two axis through which pro-Basque organizations consider that the "complete recovery" of the language could happen. These are the main conclusions of the "Declaration of minimum demands for the Basque language", a text that is being now disseminated by Kontseilua (an umbrella organization made up of 45 organizations working in favour of Basque).

The text, adopted by Kontseilua's General Assembly in a meeting in February, regrets that Basque continues to be relegated although "the situation has recently improved". Thus, according to Kontseilua, "the process of making Basque a minority language must end" through "a new playing field with new tactics and new basic assumptions".

A call for decision-making in the Basque Country

How to unlock such a process? Kontseilua considers that there are two main points: "pursuing a language policy without outside interference" and giving an "appropriate status" to the Basque language.

The umbrella organization recalls that "at the present time there are obstacles to the implementation of an operative language policy" because "interference and decision-making from outside the Basque language community render ineffective".

In relation the issue of the "appropriate status", Kontseilua asks that Basque be made "official in its entire territory" (i. e. in all Euskadi, Navarre and the Northern Basque Country in France) "and have this status along four dimensions: political, territorial, collective and objective". This could open the door for "the designation of Basque as the priority language" and should be completed with "making it compulsory to know Basque" as "a necessary step in order to accomplish language recovery. The obligation to know Basque will ensure the peaceful coexistence of all citizens".

Basque Country/Euskal Herria

General information
Population: 2.900.000 inhabitants (est)
Area: 20.500 km² (est)
Institutions: Navarra, Euskadi and Iparralde
State administration: Spain and France
Major cities: Iruñea, Bilbo, Donosti, Gazteiz, Baiona
Territorial language: Basque
Official language: Basque, Spanish and French
Major religion: Christianity (Catholicism)

2,000 Palestinian prisoners agree to put an end to one-month long hunger strike

Tue, 15 May 2012 12:00:00 +0200

One day before the Nakba is commemorated, some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners agreed yesterday to put an end to an almost one-month long hunger strike. According to Palestine Information Center, the prisoner's representatives have signed a deal with the Israeli Prison Service. The agreement includes ending the solitary confinement of Palestinian prisoners and releasing the administrative detainees (i. e. detention without trial) by the end of the administrative custody or either indicting them. It is also foreseen that relatives of the prisoners be allowed to visit them.

On the other hand, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) said that the prisoners had promised "to absolutely stop terror activity from inside Israeli jails", Israeli newspaper Ynet quoted as saying.

The 2,000 prisoners had started their hunger strike on April 17th. They were following the example of Bilal Thiab and Thaer Halahleh and seven other prisoners, who had started the protest earlier. Thiab and Halahleh had been on hunger strike since February 29th. Palestinian agency Ma'an News said that those prisoners too have accepted to end their hunger strike in exchange for their release after their current administrative detention term expires (depending on each case, between June and August).

Halahleh and Thiab had been detained by the Israeli forces on charges of being active members of Palestinian armed group Islamic Jihad. According to Israeli rights group B'Tselem, these are two examples of administrative detention, "intended to prevent a person from committing an act that could endanger public safety". The group considers the procedure as "patently illegal" since detainees "are not told the reason for their detention or the specific allegations against them". "Most of the material submitted by the prosecution", B'Tselem says, "is classified and not shown to the detainee or his attorney. Since the detainees do not know the evidence against them, they are unable to refute it." In principle, administrative detainees can be held no longer than six months, but in practice the term can be renewed indefinitely. Halahleh has been held for 22 months this way, and Thiab for 9 months.

Group demands independence referendum in Sardinia, people ask for a new statute of autonomy

Thu, 10 May 2012 16:30:00 +0200

A political movement named PARIS-Malu Entu asked today the organization of a referendum for the independence of Sardinia. According to AGI.it, the group says it has collected some 27,000 signatures demanding the vote, although the movement's representatives have only delivered some 13,000 of them before a court in Cagliari. "Our destiny is only decided by our determination to decide our present and our future", LiberoQuotidiano.it quoted the group's leader Doddore Meloni as saying.

This demand comes only the fourth day after the government of Sardinia organized a ten-question referendum on several issues regarding the future of the island. A landslide majority of 94.4% of Sardinians voted in favor of drafting a new statute of autonomy that supersedes the one currently in force, dating from 1948. According to the wording of the question, the statute should be "rewriten" by a "Constituent Assembly elected by universal suffrage of all Sardinian citizens".

Voters also supported the abolition of all the provinces of the island. The abolition of the so-called "new provinces" (Carbonia-Iglesias, Medio Campidano, Ogliastra and Olbia-Tempio, created in 2005) was supported by an astonishing 96.9% of voters. This could be immediately done if the Sardinian president Ugo Capellacci passes a law to put an end to their existence. The abolition of the so-called "old provinces" (Cagliari, Sassari, Nuoro and Oristano), although being approved by 66% of voters, will need to be accepted by Rome through a constitutional law.

Sardinia/Sardigna

General information
Population: 1.660.000 inhabitants (2006)
Area: 24.090 km²
Institutions: Regional Government and Regional Council of Sardinia
State administration: Italy
Major cities: Cagliari, Sassari, Oristano, Alghero
Territorial language: Sardinian, Ligurian, Catalan
Official language: Italian
Major religion: Christianity (Catolicism)