Macron pledges to keep Corsica French

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French President Emmanuel Macron seems determined not to allow Corsica to become France's Catalonia.

Nationalists, who cemented their control of Corsica's regional assembly in December elections, have denied any plans to try take the territory of 330,000 people out of France – at least for the time being. That's unlike their Catalan counterparts, who are seeking outright independence from Spain.

On Tuesday, Corsican nationalists were told by Macron, who is on a two-day trip to the French Mediterranean island, that he would try to accommodate their demands for more autonomy while keeping them in France's "Republican fold."

The trip is being closely watched on the mainland, where some fear that giving the island too much autonomy could fuel a breakaway bid in the future.

French President Emmanuel Macron (R) and Southern Corsica Prefect Bernard Schmeltz (L) leave after a ceremony in tribute to the slain French prefect Claude Erignac on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica on Tuesday. /VCG Photo

Macron began his visit with a tribute to Claude Erignac, the state's top representative on the island who was assassinated 20 years ago in an attack that shocked the country.

Addressing a ceremony in the city of Ajaccio, Macron said Corsica had been "sullied" by the killing, over which nationalist Yvan Colonna is serving a life sentence, and that there would be "no forgetting and no amnesty."

He stressed that Corsica, which is economically dependent on the mainland, was part of the "unwavering" French Republic.

French President Emmanuel Macron stands at attention during a ceremony in tribute to the slain French prefect Claude Erignac on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica on Tuesday. /VCG Photo

He promised, however, to try to give it "the future it aspires to, without giving into demands that would take it out of the Republican fold."

Nationalists have a string of demands, including making Corsican an official language and granting amnesty to Corsicans jailed for pro-independence violence.

A longtime hotbed of anti-French militancy, the mountainous island has enjoyed a measure of stability since 2014 when the separatist National Liberation Front of Corsica (FLNC) called a ceasefire.

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Source(s): AFP