Concept of Nations: recognition call

The Lusitania (Leukitanea) and the Lusitanian Lands (Luirokitanea)
Area: 27,500 sq km ............................................................Area: 50,000 sq km
Population: 2,300,000 inhabitants ................................Population: 6,000,000 inh
Capital (historic): Oxthrakai (Vila Velha de Ródão)..............................................
City (most important): Verurio (Viseu)..................................................................
Centre (cultural): Aeminio (Coimbra)....................................................................

A recommendation by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the “concept of nation” has been backed by the European Parliament regional and minority language Intergroup.

The PACE recommendation stated that, “Everyone should be free to define themselves as a member of a cultural “nation”, irrespective of their citizenship”. In response, the Intergroup commented that “Council of Europe member states should avoid defining themselves in exclusively ethnic terms, and should do their utmost to help their minorities, a source of enrichment, to flourish”. Today, both the French and British Governments still deny people from some of the Celtic countries to legally describe themselves in terms of their Celtic national identities in all areas of life. This is particularly the case where Britany is concerned, where the French Government have been repeatedly condemned by international organisations and their bodies, for their denial of these basic human rights to the Breton people in France, or the Cornish people in Britain for instance. In Portugal the situation of the ethnic minorities is much worse, because the Government and the state bodies do not recognise the existence nor the cultural rights of the Lusitanian minority of the country.

Intergroup leader Mr Csaba Tabajdi, Member of the European Parliament, said that, this recommendation is out of utter importance, representing a paradigm change in the protection of minorities in Europe. It contains a new, elaborate concept of nation.

The recommendation states that: The term “Nation” is deeply rooted in peoples, culture and history and incorporates fundamental elements of their identity. “It is also closely linked to political ideologies which have exploited it and adulterated its original meaning. Furthermore, in view of the diversity of languages spoken in Europe countries, a concept such as nation is quite simply not translatable in many countries where, at best, only rough translations are to be found in certain national languages.

Some reflections on the ethnic concept of Nation

For most of portuguese (in special its social and political elites) and for some Lusitanians (the ones who are not aware of their real identity), the problem is or asserts that the crux of “Portugal-Lusitania” question, the Lusitanian Cause, is artificial and inexistent, they say that Portugal and Lusitania are the same country and that the portuguese and the Lusitanian are the same people, or at least the present portuguese are descendants of the ancient Lusitanian. But that is not true. On the opposite side, are the majority of Lusitanian people (the ones who are consciencious of their true ethnic-cultural identity) the question exist and is urgent to find a solution because the Lusitanians as the native and ancient people of this country form a different nation of the portuguese one, who are a more latter mixed people which speaks a creole and neolatin de language and adopted a foreign culture, therefore the resolution of that question is the official recognition of the Lusitanian nation by the portuguese government and that Lusitania must become independent or become an autonomous state within the Portuguese Republic. The Lusitanian nation has legitimate aspiration to form a home rule with real powers in the political, cultural and social spheres, in the way to defend their own national Lusitanian identity.
Let´s run through that. Do Lusitanians form a nation? In social,, cultural, racial and historic terms the sense of the word nation admit that, but in political and legal terms not, in that case is Portugal and the portuguese that constitutes a nation, that is, an independent state with its own seat at the United Nations.
But in sociological terms, we would say that a nation exists as soon as human beings consider that they form one community or nation. They feel that they share common historical, cultural, ethnic, linguistic historic, religious or geographic traits and on this basis see themselves as a nation or a different community. It is undeniable that a large number of Lusitanians (with the portuguese citizenship) consider themselves to be a nation and are one from that moment on!
While many Lusitanian maintains that Lusitania as a nation conscious of its own ethnic-cultural identity must be a country with its independent political statute such as Portugal or other equivalent nations has, the more conservative and reactionary portuguese on the contrary, think that the meaning of nation is more restrictive and only apply to the legal status of the independent state members of the United Nations, and because of that they joke about an independent Lusitania. In fact, the vast majority of nations in the world, in sociological sense, have a political status that is much narrower or limited in territorial and cultural scope than that enjoyed by many provinces or tribal communities in the world. In that models we includes regions or nations as Scotland, Wales, Flanders, Dalmatia, Sicily, Sarawak, or Goa, or even same tribal American and australian communities that have a territory or cultural rights much more vast than some independent small countries.
When we talk of a nation in sociological sense, it is often difficult precisely to delineate its contours because the national sentiment stems from a process of self-identification which is ultimately rather subjective. Moreover, it would be intolerable if that self-identification were to degenerate into an attempt at annexation or appropriation of others. Now, while some Lusitanian people do not recognize themselves as Lusitanian, but only as portuguese, there are the majority of Lusitanian people that feel themselves as Lusitanian and do not want to have the portuguese citizenship even, to be part of Portugal or belong to the portuguese nation. That means which Lusitanian/portuguese and Lusitania/Portugal are different identities and entities which maus be separated. The Lusitanian are not Portuguese and the Portuguese are not Lusitanian, although they share some common things and the same Portuguese citizenship, because Lusitania today is a land occupied by the Portuguese internal colonialism.
The Lusitanian nation and people has the right to home rule and own their own nation. It is impossible to belong to two or more nations at the same time, because that means the loss of most of the traditional values of the most fragile culture, in that case the Lusitanian one. In Portugal today, there are other peoples that are not portuguese nor Lusitanian (although they have the portuguese citizenzhip too), that includes the Mirandese nation of the Valley of Miranda, the people of Barrancos, the peoples of Azores and Madeira, and the Conii people which still live today in the interior of the southern Algarve province, all these peoples form their own nation inside Portugal with theirs native identities, but nor all of them as official recognition by the Portuguese government as a nation.
To refuse or deny this fact is to ignore the reality of the world where we live today, where plural identities constitute a strength more than ever before, where these identities must be defended and increased, never assimilate or destroyed. For the majority of human beings, nationalist attachment must not superimpose to the ethnic-cultural identity. Its intermingled means the loss of many traditional values belonging to small nations. Different cultures can coexist inside the same country as soon as they have the same recognition or official status.
Compounding this particular question to fight false ideas and official prejudices, everything means which is that each nation must form a country (or autonomous region) with its own culture. There are over six thousand human groups, tribes, communities or peoples that define themselves as a nations in the world, whereas there are fewer (or about) than two hundred independent states in the United Nations. To concede the independence to all these six thousand nations is almost impossible and with no logic. This would make the planet explode. But what we cannot deny is the right of that all six thousand nations to have official recognition and a self-government independent of the central power. The vast majority of countries are made up of several nations recognized inside theirs countries. That is the case of Great Britain, the Netherlands, Russia, India, Canada, the United States or South Africa for instance.
The no official recognition of the Lusitanian nation or people in Portugal is in contradiction with the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic. Which define in legal terms the right of all portuguese citizens to live, to choose and to define themselves without any imposition or restriction in their country. If any group of portuguese citizens, members of any community as the Lusitanian or another one which want to belong or be active part of their native home or nation can in theory do that, so why they do not get official recognition from the portuguese state or by the portuguese government and elites? Is a serious error to do that kind of politics against a nation or people.
We cannot ignore nor trivializing the identity of a whole nation. That official politics of the portuguese government is wrong and anti-constitutional and in reality, lies on the fears of its social elites to lose some political or economic privileges. And when in reality that portuguese elites are anti-patriotic since ever and sold the future of this country to the foreigner powers.
Of course, the existence of Lusitanian culture is alive, but its future is not asseverated yet. They need an official recognition of their nation by the portuguese government. The portuguese state, central government and civil servants do not have the right to repress the Lusitanian culture nor to deny the liberty for the Lusitanian people and nation.
Incidentally, we could prefer the expression “society” or “community” to that of “nation”. If the objective is really to be inclusive as possible, the word “society” is more appropriate. While, the etymology of the word “nation” refers to a broad consensus within a country, and thus retains a connotation linked to origins, evento race. The nation can be civic also, but that is not guaranteed. The number of Lusitanians who feel themselves as Lusitanian and not as portuguese is growing day by day. That is the best way to get one day the official recognition in Portugal. But the question remains: what legal consequences are to be attached to a constitutional recognition of this unique and distinct Lusitanian nation? Can we obtain the full independence after so many sacrificies? In short, with or without official recognition or constitutional change, Lusitanian people can live proudly and very well with their national identity. Above all, we can do so without Portugal and portuguese. The whole Lusitanian nation has the right to be free and to choose how to live. Its terribly false and cruel to refuse a nation how to be the owner of its own fate. It is better to be free and poor than rich and portuguese.