Macron backs Corsica charter mention
BASTIA: President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday he was open to adding a specific mention of Corsica in the French Constitution but rejected several other demands for autonomy made by the island’s nationalist leaders.
Corsica’s relationship with mainland France has long troubled French presidents. For 40 years, separatists waged a militant campaign, blowing up police stations and mansions owned by mainlanders and carrying out assassinations, before laying down their arms in 2014.
During his first visit to the island since his election last year, Mr Macron attempted to tread a middle ground, condemning in strong terms past acts of militancy while playing up the need for close cooperation between the island and the mainland.
He offered the unexpected, symbolic move of a recognition in the Constitution while saying the Corsican language would not be given official status and said local authorities would not be allowed to veto property-buying by non-residents.
Corsica’s nationalist leaders, elected in December, have demanded a special status for the island in the constitution but also greater autonomy, as well as equal status for the French and Corsican languages and amnesty for Corsicans jailed for proindependence violence.
Mr Macron already said on Tuesday that there would be no amnesty.
He said mentioning Corsica in France’s supreme law would both recognise its identity and anchor it within the French Republic.
He added that further talks would determine what the move would entail.
“Corsica is at the heart of the [French] Republic,” Mr Macron said on a podium flanked by the French and EU flags, but not the Corsican one, while adding that he was nevertheless willing to show some flexibility.
That would include not only mentioning it in the Constitution but also prolonging an investment plan and looking into simplifying construction rules on the mountainous Mediterranean island, he said.