Pradales calls for official recognition of Basque, Catalan and Galician in the European Union

The lehendakari, Imanol Pradales, has sent a letter to the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, requesting his supportfor the official recognition of the Basque, Catalan and Galician languages in the institutions of the European Union . In his letter, Pradales advocates the founding principle of the EU "united in diversity"and recalls that Spain is a multilingual state whose cultural and linguistic wealth is not" fully represented "in Europe.

The lehendakari has stated that this recognition not only responds to a historic demand from the Basque Country, Galicia and Catalonia, but also has broad social and institutional support. "In short, it is a question of applying the founding principles of the Union to a demand for linguistic justice," he said.

Pradales has stressed that Europe and Spain "are incomplete" without the cultural and intellectual contributions generated in these languages, and cites examples such as the philosopher Ramon Llull and the writer Bernat Etxepare, author of the first book published in Basque in the sixteenth century.

In the text, he also reviews the progress made since the Transition in the recognition of linguistic rights in the Spanish State, but stresses that officiality in Europe is still a 'pending subject' . He recalls that in 1985, when the State joined the then Common Market, this issue was raised, although the consolidation of democracy took precedence.

Finally, the President believes that taking this step would send a clear message of commitment to diversity to millions of citizens. "The best message to strengthen Europe is full acceptance of its languages," he concluded.