PARIS, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday said he backed a move to mention Corsica in the French Constitution but rejected the island's nationalists' demand to recognize the Corsican identity and language.
During his first visit to Corsica Tuesday since taking office last May, Macron announced a reform of the constitution to mention the Mediterranean island. The text would be presented to parliament by spring, he added.
He called it "a sign of confidence, expression of a legitimate need for recognition of Corsica by the Republic, and the desire for strong roots in the Republic and in the constitutional text."
However, calls for greater autonomy, including recognition of the Corsican identity and language, were rejected.
"I want everyone in the (French) Republic to be able to claim their identity, their specificity. But if this specificity is to be the Republic's enemy, then it's an error and I cannot accept it," he told the gathering.
"In the French Republic there is an official language. It's French ... Bilingualism is not co-officiality. Bilingualism is not a new frontier in the Republic, but the recognition of a cultural and linguistic identity in the Republic," he added.
As to the demand for a resident status, Macron said it was not the right answer to handle the housing problem on the island.
"Creating a resident status would not ... allow a balance of this market, and would not solve any problems of construction," he added.
Corsica, with a population of 332,000, once suffered separatist violence, but the main militant group seeking independence for Corsicans declared a ceasefire in 2014.
In the last two decades, about a dozen public figures were assassinated on the island, while gang violence and drug trafficking have also claimed lives.
Vowing "zero tolerance" to violence and organized crime, the French head of state pledged to reinforce security forces and to provide police with more equipment to ensure citizens' safety.
"Corsica and Corsicans need the republican order because nothing will be possible if violence and insecurity continue to disrupt the life of the island ... This violence ... must completely disappear," he stressed.
However, to Gilles Simeoni, the head of the regional government, Macron's visit was "a missed opportunity."
"The president of the republic could have shown himself to be a capable statesman, anchoring peace, building reconciliation and creating conditions for a calm dialogue, taking into account this people's aspirations and interests," said Simeoni.
"He could have done all of that. But he has chosen not to," he added.
