Everytime the French Interior Minister goes to Iparralde, the part of the Basque Country within France, the old French arrogance and contempt for the ethnic and cultural minorities comes with him.
He never brings solutions, he never brings compromises, he always brings empty words.
My grandfather is one of those who "shed their blood". He did so fighting Franco in Hegoalde when he could have been living an easy life in Mexico, he then went back to his own land and continued to fight the Nazis after France capitulated in record time.
He did not fight for France, he fought for the Basque Country, he believed in a different set of empty words, those by the Allied Forces that promised the Basques an independent state in return for their commitment to fight against Hitler and Mussolini.
The Basques upheld their part of the deal, on Liberation Day in Paris they marched under their beloved Ikurriña, my grandfather did not get to see that day, he died in operations in the area of Montalivet.
Now this clown De Villepin goes to Iparralde to deny the Basques their right to have their own department, he goes to Iparralde to tell the Basques that in France only French must be spoken as to "preserve national unity".
Vive la Liberté!
De Villepin turns down Batera’s four requests
Eneko Bidegain – BAIONA (Bayonne)
“Your fathers shed their blood for the [French] Fatherland, today you devote all your energy to France.” That is how Dominique de Villepin padded out his speech to show how “proud” he was of “the Basque Country being in France”. The French Interior Minister came to the Northern Basque Country yesterday with lots of compliments like that. But with little else besides.
He spoke in front of numerous elected representatives in the Chamber of Commerce. It was a long speech full of platitudes about the Basque Country but lacking in content. He confirmed his position against the creation of a Basque Département. He rejected the official recognition of the Basque language. “We have to defend diversity without damaging unity,” he explained to reporters.
Yet the main focus of De Villepin’s visit was based on the work to support the Basque language. At the building of the General Council in Baiona (Bayonne) he signed an agreement on the creation of a Public Bureau for Basque Language Policy. Jean-Jacques Lasserre praised the work of the associations. “Without your work the Basque language would have been about to disappear. Thanks to you we have developed an awareness with respect to the language.” The words of the Chairman of the General Council were like a victory speech. He presented the creation of a Public Bureau as “the finishing line”.
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Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteI'll never forget when the French Consulate General was visiting our cultural center a couple of years back, and in his speech called the community "the little children of France".
What really surprised me was that no one seemed to care...it was business as usual.
cat
Hey Cat!
ReplyDeleteWe are more like France's little step-children, that's for sure.