Corsican fishermen: ‘We must return our national identity'

“I want to live in my native Corsica, not in France,” Joseph Silvest, a fisherman in the Ajaccio settlement of the island of Corsica, told Report.

“I am trying to protect my Corsica. I want our language to continue to exist. May my children and grandchildren feel happy as I felt in my childhood. What we want is to be able to preserve our own national traditions. They are trying to Europeanize us, which can only be possible if we preserve our national values,” the fisherman said.

According to him, external influences on the island should be reduced: “I am in favor of autonomy for Corsica. I want to live in my native Corsica, not in France.”

“We have been occupied. Corsica must be independent,” Skint Olivier, another fisherman in the settlement, said.

According to him, language is an important factor and the local population should use the Corsican language: “Most importantly, we must return our national identity. We have our own values. But we are losing them. We no longer recognize our own country, Corsica. I am in favor of the independence of Corsica. First, we need to gain autonomy and then independence. I want Corsica to be fully independent. We do not want anything from the state, and the state does not want anything from us. We have to start living with our own resources - fishing, agriculture. I am not afraid of the difficulties that we will face as a result of independence. Whatever the cost, we can handle it. Back in the day, people used to speak in the Corsican language. We had values. But we lose them.”