French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday gave his backing to a status of autonomy for the Mediterranean island of Corsica, a region that is often at odds with rule from Paris.
In a 40-minute speech to Corisca's elected representatives, Macron said it was time to build constitutional autonomy for the island, but without any disengagement from the French republic.
"It will not be autonomy against the state, nor autonomy without the state, but autonomy for Corsica and within the republic," Macron told the island's parliament in Ajaccio, which is currently controlled by nationalists.
"We should have the courage to establish a form of autonomy for Corsica within France ... We would all be failing if we left things as they are."
Colonna fallout
Corsica shot to the top of the French political agenda last year when widespread violence broke out over the killing in a mainland prison of the nationalist Yvan Colonna.
The independence fighter, jailed for life over the 1998 murder of regional prefect Claude Erignac, was stabbed to death by another inmate.
Colonna's killing triggered "unbelievable violence that brought Corsica to the brink of widespread conflict", the island's executive Gilles Simeoni told Macron.
Corsicans have long wanted more say on their own affairs, as well as official status for their language and protection from outsiders buying up land, two thorny requests that Paris is reluctant to grant.
Corsica must ... become the autonomous territory it ought to be," regional parliament speaker Marie-Antoinette Maupertuis told Macron ahead of his speech.
The island's young people especially "feel hugely dispossessed", she added.
Macron vowed to introduce legislation that would "fully anchor Corsica in the French republic, and recognise the uniqueness of its Mediterranean island nature and its relationship with the world".
He set a deadline of six months for the island's politicians to reach agreement with Paris on a new law that would change the French constitution to amend Corsica's status.
'No red lines'
"There are no red lines, just the ideals of the republic," Macron added.
But as local daily Corse Matin noted, "the president does not say specifically what 'Corsican autonomy' looks like". The paper also pointed out that Macron doesn't have an absolute majority in parliament, which may hold up the finalisation of any plan.
Meanwhile pro-independence group Corsica Libera complained, in a statement published on social media, that Corsican lawmakers were summoned to their own chamber to "attend as simple spectators" the president's "monologue", predicting that proposals on autonomy would come down to "simple decentralisation".
In protest, Josepha Giacometti Piredda, Corsica Libera's representative in the local parliament, did not attend Macron's speech.
(with newswires)
