One “process with a historical vocation of discussions” between the State and Corsica will begin in Paris the first week of April, according to the report of the meetings of Wednesday March 16 between the Minister of the Interior and the elected officials, broadcast Friday March 18 in the evening by the cabinet of the president of the Executive Council of Corsica, Gilles Simeoni.
Gérald Darmanin went to Ajaccio on Wednesday at the headquarters of the Collectivity of Corsica. He took part in a plenary meeting in the presence of elected officials and active forces on the island, and in particular representatives of student and youth unions. A first cycle of meetings will begin in April on “all Corsican issues, without exception, including the institutional evolution towards a status of autonomy which remains to be specified”explains Gilles Simeoni.
“The Minister of the Interior and the President of the Executive Council of Corsica undertake that the discussions on a statutory evolution of Corsica will be concluded before the end of 2022”
Gilles Simenonifranceinfo
According to Gilles Simeoni, Gérald Darmanin confirmed “the absence of taboos” as to the subjects discussed, but nevertheless reaffirmed “two intangible principles” recalled by the President of the Republic: “Corsica in the Republic and the refusal to create two categories of citizens”. Still according to this report, the elected officials, trade unions and nationalist associations have expressed their desire for a concrete evolution concerning “the language, culture and recognition of the Corsican people”. Finally, a commitment has been made for the truth to be revealed about the circumstances of the assassination attempt on Yvan Colonna through the mission of the General Inspectorate of Justice (IGJ), referral to the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office and the judicial investigation in progress.
An agreement seems to be on the right track for the rapprochement of the two detainees, Alain Ferrandi and Pierre Alessandri, accomplices of Yvan Colonna in the assassination of the prefect Erignac. At Wednesday’s meeting, “it was clarified that the Prime Minister’s lifting of their status as particularly flagged detainees now opens the way for a prompt rapprochement in the coming weeks to the Borgo detention center”, according to the report. Gérald Darmanin received the relatives of the two detainees at the end of the plenary meeting, specifies Gilles Simeoni.
The two parts “agree that the implementation of this historic process can only be envisaged in a peaceful and calm general framework favoring dialogue between the various parties concerned”. Corsica has been the scene of violence for two weeks after the attack on Yvan Colonna in prison.