Declaration of the Moravian Nation
The history of a nation constitutes a specific kind of heritage that cannot be renounced by any government or public administration. History is, in fact, a constantly unfolding process in the continuum of time, marked by the beginning and end points of events and historical transformations – all of which are unreachable from, and therefore unchangeable by, present-day actors. On the other hand, the meaning, interpretation, and conceptualization of history have always been framed in the ideological context of a given period.
In 1918, Moravia neither joined the newly independent Czechoslovak Republic as part of a Czech state, nor as part of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown. Indeed, according to the Austrian Constitution of 1867 – the Ausgleich – i.e. before the dissolution of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1918, the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Margravate of Moravia had been two separate and independent Crown Lands, both under the direct control of Vienna, but in no way dependent on each other.
After the establishment of Czechoslovakia in 1918, many steps were taken to infringe on the sovereignty of Moravia and to eradicate Moravian self-awareness as much as possible. Key actions taken included the abolition, in 1949, of Moravian land self-governance, and its replacement with a regional administration; the decision not to reinstate self-government in 1991; and the re-introduction of the regional administration in 2000, with no regard for Moravia’s historical borders. Collectively, these constitute the most detrimental causes of the current state of Moravia, which had for centuries been a self-governing land, and has now been transformed into a nameless part of the Czech Republic.
The lessons learned through the increasingly repressive anti-Moravian policies of the official institutions of the Czech Republic have brought the present generation of Moravians to their current position, i.e. that there is only one way to achieve a renewed self-governance in the Moravian Land, namely by striving for the right of the Moravian nation to self-governance.
We, the Moravian Nation,
on the 25th Anniversary of the population census that for the first time enabled citizens of the Czech Republic to claim Moravian nationality;
and on the 50th Anniversary of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted by the UN GA, which guarantees all nations the right of self-determination:
- All peoples have the right of self-determination, by virtue of which they freely determine their political status and pursue their economic, social and cultural development.
- All peoples may, for their own ends, freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources without prejudice to any obligations arising out of international economic co-operation, based on the principle of mutual benefit and international law. In no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence.
- The States Parties to the present Covenant, including those having responsibility for the administration of Non-Self-Governing and Trust Territories, shall promote the realization of the right of self-determination, and shall respect that right, in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
With due consideration of the fact that all essential state-building transformations occurring on the territory of Moravia during the last century took place on the basis of the right of nations to self-governance, i.e.
- the creation of Czechoslovakia, in 1918, based on the right of the Czechoslovakian nation to self-determination;
- the start of the Czechoslovakian Federation, in 1968, based on the rights of the Slovak and Czech Nations to self-determination;
- the beginning of the Slovak Republic, in 1993, based on the right of the Slovak nation to self-determination, and, simultaneously, the establishment of the Czech Republic;
and with regard to the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, itself an integral part of the constitutional order of the Czech Republic, which declares that
- Each individual has the right to a nationality;
- No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change the same;
- No one shall be deprived the right to claim his/her fundamental rights and freedoms;
and having considered that the time has come to enforce the inalienable right of the Moravian nation to self-determination;
we hereby request:
- The revision/amendment of Act 273/2001 Coll. on the rights of the national minorities, which would define citizens of the Moravian nationality, as well as citizens of the Czech nationality, as majority nationality communities of the Czech Republic.
- Following the requested amendment of the Act 273/2001 Coll., the implementation of such legislative amendments that would enable the subsequent establishment of the autonomous Moravian Land within the Czech Republic.
19 December 2016, Velehrad, Moravia