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The President of the Government of Navarre thanks “the huge effort, and human example of thousands upon thousands of people from Navarre,” that had to leave their land and contribute to the country that welcomed them, “without renouncing their deep feeling of belonging to Navarre,” and advocate “to maintain a permanent link” with the Diaspora.  These are the words of Uxue Barkos in an interview published on Geroa Bai-Argentina’s website.

Buenos Aires, Argentina.  The Navarran President says in the course of this interview that “our Navarran community abroad is an extension of our land and our culture.”  We provide here her responses in regards to the relationship between Navarre and the Diaspora.

-It seems necessary to us to maintain a permanent link with the Diaspora, understood in its broadest sense, because it contributes to the diffusion of our culture beyond our borders.  Therefore, our community outside of Navarre is an extension of our land and our culture.  Navarre is a small territory and so, in quantitative terms, our Diaspora is also small compared with those from other territories, but this is very relevant to us in qualitative terms.  We can say that in the majority of Navarran family histories, there is an emigration story, and this isn’t something that we should never lose sight of.

This is why we would like to send a thank you message to the community from Navarre in Argentina and recognize the great effort, and human example by thousands of Navarrese over the last several generations who had to leave their land.  These people, who are part of our own families, have demonstrated their valor living and working to get ahead and to contribute to the development and social progress of the land that welcomed them.  All this without renouncing their deep sense of belonging to Navarre.  Hence my warmest gratitude for having promoted the knowledge and appreciation for Navarre.

Full text of the interview, here