ANNUAL REPORT:
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2008_ annual report of FUEN

FUEN-CONGRESS PÉCS 2008:
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20080524 Dokumentation Pécs_DE
20080524 Documentation Pécs_EN

FUEN-ASSEMBLY:
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20080524 Hans Heinrich Hansen in Pécs EN
20080524 Brussels Project Annual Report Diedrichsen EN
20080524 Annual accouunts 2007 and budget 2008 Frank Nickelsen EN, DE
20080524 Dialogue Forum EN

FUEN-CONFERENCES:
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2008 Annual meeting of the Slavonic minorities in the FUEN
2008 Annual meeting of the German minorities in the FUEN
EUROPEADA European Soccer Championship 2008
EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL 2008

EVALUATIONS:
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20080524 Recht auf Medien DE:
20080524 Right to media EN:

FACT FINDING MISSIONS:
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20081111 Carinthia_DE
20081111 Carinthia_EN

PRESS RELEASES:

www.minority-press.info

RESOLUTIONS 2008:
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20080524 Resolutions 2008

RESOLUTION 2008-01

The Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) passed the following resolution in Pécs on 24^th May 2008

The Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) has noted with astonishment that the work schedule of the new Vienna-based European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights does not even mention autochthonous minorities as a focus of its work.

The European Parliament had expressly recommended with emphasis that this area of work be included in the agency’s remit, an opinion supported by FUEN - the umbrella organisation of the autochthonous minorities in Europe.

The stability of many regions in Europe can only be guaranteed by a balance between minorities and majorities. It also remains the European Union’s job, and in its own interest, to guarantee – as for example laid down in the Copenhagen accession criteria – that the European minorities are sufficiently protected and nurtured. It therefore seems all the more astonishing that the new fundamental rights agency has excluded the question of autochthonous, national minorities from its agenda.

The Assembly of Delegates therefore asks the member states of the European Union for an explanation of why the decision has been made to exclude the autochthonous minorities in Europe from the scope of the work of the new agency – against the recommendations of the European Parliament and the umbrella organisation of the European minorities.

RESOLUTION 2008-02

The Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities passed the following resolution on 24th May 2008 in Pécs for a sustainable language policy with particular consideration of the regional and minority languages, and the small and smallest languages in Europe. 

Based on the right to the safeguarding and promotion of the linguistic and cultural diversity in Europe as defined in the European Union (Art. II-82) and in other legislation and political documents, in particular the Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities of the Council of Europe,

with regard to the aim to make the European Union into the most competitive and knowledge-based economic area in the world and to contribute to the Lisbon Strategy through lifelong learning and the development of systems for education and training,

with regard to the policy on multilingualism of the European Union, the Action Plan for promoting language learning 2004-2006 and the reports on this, the Communication on Multilingualism from 2005, the installation of a Commissioner for Multilingualism and participation in the EU Consultation 2007, and awaiting the new Communication of Language Learning at the end of 2008,

with regard to the policies of the EU member states in the field of language learning and language promotion and the Open Method of Coordination, which is used in the EU to coordinate objectives and indicators,

recognising the language policies of the Council of Europe, in particular its methodology of monitoring and reporting in the Charter for Regional and Minority Languages in Europe,

taking into consideration the developments within the European Union in the field of language promotion, in particular in the field of regional or minority languages (Ebner-report in the European Parliament in 2003, Feasibility study of 2004, Communication on Multilingualism, end of earmarked funding for EBLUL) and the decision taken to mainstream language support within the EU programmes, in particular within the field of Lifelong Learning,

having knowledge of the situation of linguistic diversity in Europe – which apart from the 23 official languages of the European Union comprehend other languages as well, like e.g. more than 60 regional or minority languages, of which the total number of speakers is estimated at 40 million EU citizens,

considering the current situation of the European regional or minority languages and the languages that are threatened by extinction; according to the EUROMOSAIC-study those languages with less speakers than 300 000 are characterised as critical, a continuous assimilation and decreasing number of speakers – influenced by challenges of a changing society, changes in employment, demographic developments and globalisation,

based on the survey for the needs of the member organisations of FUEN in regard to the field of European language support and language policy, of which the results will be published, and which showed that the European minorities, just like all other languages, have the need in the field of teacher training and the development of learning materials and special need for support in the maintenance and development of their languages and to manage these professionally, because they have to overcome didactic, pedagogic and logistic challenges, e.g. in the implementation of multilingualism in schools, in safeguarding the linguistic quality of the RMLs and have the need for increasing the prestige and anchoring their languages in public use, based on the expectations to European support for languages and the experiences and expectations to the work of FUEN,

after thorough research of language projects that have been supported by the EU so far, as well as further projects in all education fields, in particular in the programmes Comenius and Grundtvig,

after talks about cooperation and examining cooperation with other organisations active in the field of regional- or minority languages, in particular after participation in meetings to found the network of the Language Boards led by the Welsh Language Board and several talks with EBLUL and its member state committees,

after consultation with experts in the field of education and language promotion, as well as with potential partners and supporters,

the Federal Union of European Nationalities – the umbrella organisation of the autochthonous national minorities in Europe – decided to establish a network for the European multilingualism and linguistic diversity in Europe and to apply for funding within the EU Programme Lifelong Learning, transversal programme Languages, with a renowned consortium.

As the largest European stakeholder of the minorities, FUEN sees it as its task to stand up to the benefit of the autochthonous national minorities for support for languages and for language policy on the European level that include the regional and minority languages.

In this context FUEN renews its demands formulated in the language resolution adopted in Tallinn in 2007, and supports the conclusion of the consultation on multilingualism in Europe conducted by the EU Commission, in which FUEN also participated, that more has to be done for the recognition of the regional and minority languages, and that the European Union should take a more pro-active role.

FUEN calls upon the European Commission to integrate the regional and minority languages, and in particular the small and smallest languages in Europe, in the planned strategy for multilingualism to be worked out in 2008.

FUEN - as European umbrella organisation - offers the EU Commission to continue the dialogue which started in April 2007 with EU Commissioner Orban at a meeting in Copenhagen,  to ensure that the interests of the regional and minority languages, and in particular the small and smallest languages, are effectively represented.   

RESOLUTION 2008-03

The Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) passed the following Declaration on the foundation of the  „European Dialogue Forum of Traditional National Minorities,  Constitutional Regions and Regional Languages“ in Pécs on 24^th May 2008

Declaration on the foundation of the  „European Dialogue Forum of Traditional National Minorities,  Constitutional Regions and Regional Languages“ 

RESOLUTION 2008-04

With this Pécs resolution of 24^th May, the Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities fully joins the Sorb demands listed in the “Memorandum on the continued existence of the Sorb people in the Federal Republic of Germany”.

The Assembly of Delegates calls upon the federal government, the federal state of Brandenburg and the state of Saxony to implement the Sorbs’ demands.

MEMORANDUM

concerning the future survival  of the Sorbian people

in the Federal Republic of Germany

During their 1,400-year history the Lusatian Sorbs have had to endure social exclusion and prohibition by nationalist and chauvinistic forces as well as the consequences of an extensive mining policy, which has destroyed over a hundred villages since 1924. Last but not least they survived the take-over by the ‘real existing' socialism of the GDR by adopting a position between conformity and resistance. Their numbers have steadily decreased as a result of assimilation and Germanization.

New opportunities have opened up as a result of German reunification and the expansion of the European Union. The Sorbs are recognized by the Federal Republic as an autochthonous ethnic group and have a right to protection and support for their identity.

However, the continued survival of the Sorbian language with its two separate western Slavonic literary languages is threatened and Sorbian culture, which has been able to develop since the Reformation into a sophisticated advanced culture, is endangered in a free, democratic Germany.

The background to this situation is a progressive under-funding of the Foundation for the Sorbian People as a result of a reduction in financial support by the Federal Government. An unresolved argument between central government and the states of Saxony and Brandenburg, which has gone on for years, is undermining German policy towards this minority group. It has so far prevented agreement being reached on a new financing arrangement, which was supposed to come into force in January 2008.

The Foundation for the Sorbian People was set up jointly in 1991 by the Federal Government, Saxony and Brandenburg to preserve the unique Sorbian cultural, educational and academic structures and to support work on necessary projects. It was designed to enable Sorbian art, culture and other traditions to be developed and presented, and thereby strengthen the ability of Sorbs and Germans to live in peace alongside each other.

The three contractual partners have always expressed their desire in public to secure the financial support for the Sorbian language and culture, the last occasion was on the 15th anniversary of the Foundation in 2006. Now, at the beginning of 2008, despite all these expressions of sympathy, however, the professional organizations and registered societies of the Sorbs are faced with a dilemma. A decline in funding is endangering the execution of the most essential linguistic, cultural and academic tasks, and with it the future of the Sorbian people. The Foundation for the Sorbian People has nowhere near the necessary funds for 2008 at its disposal (it would need at least 16.4 million euros and an annual adjustment for inflation) in order to fulfil its aims.

It is difficult to understand that a liberal-minded country like the Federal Republic, which has supported and agreed to implement all the European standards for the rights of minorities, finds itself so overburdened by its financial support of the Sorbian people.

The remaining centres of a Sorbian identity, its cultural and academic institutions, its societies and supporters therefore call on those responsible in the Federal Republic and the states of Saxony and Brandenburg to guarantee the activities of the Foundation for the Sorbian People by granting it appropriate, long-term financial support, which also includes an annual allowance for inflation.

We call on German and international public opinion to press the Federal Government to implement a solution, which also allows the Foundation to undertake its work in the future for the good of this autochthonous minority in Lusatia.

In addition we expect the Federal Government and the German parliament, the state governments and parliaments in Dresden and Potsdam to clarify swiftly who is ultimately responsible for the protection and financial support of the Sorbs in Germany. We urge those who bear the political responsibility to recognize once and for all that support for autochthonous national minorities cannot be reduced to purely cultural support, thereby making it the sole responsibility of the individual states. It is rather a responsibility of the Federal state as a whole, as it encompasses all areas of life.

Further closures of Sorbian or German-Sorbian educational, cultural and academic institutions would condemn Sorbian life, which was once persecuted and suppressed for being inferior and lacking in culture, to gradual decline and its ultimate demise.

Bautzen, February 2008

RESOLUTION 2008-05

The Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) passed the following resolution proposed by the Sydslesvigsk Forening and the Bund Deutscher Nordschleswiger on 24th May in Pécs.

The liberalisation of the media markets creates incentives to assure the optimum usability of rights. At the same time, technical developments mean that digitalisation makes it possible to focus on particular audience groups far more precisely. From a structural point of view, the more or less random scattering of radio in television into neighbouring countries is therefore becoming a thing of the past.

It is therefore a minority and cultural policy task to continue to safeguard dissemination in the future through regulation and imposition of conditions. This is not just about the interests of minorities living near borders; it also affects the desirable cross-border co-operation in areas like the labour market and the economy together with language and culture.

The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages obliges the states to guarantee the free, direct reception of television programmes from the neighbouring country (Article 11, 2). This obligation is endangered by the rapid changes in electronic media. Concrete examples of such endangerment include:

The feed-in of Danish television channels into the German cable network is dependent on whether or not the Danish broadcasters DR and TV2, and German operator Kabel Deutschland will be able to agree on the fees in the future (possibly by means of a framework agreement like the “Global Cable Treaty”).

The broadcasting of Danish television programmes via satellite is encoded because of copyright contracts and consequently cannot be freely received. Purchasing the appropriate Danish decoder card from out of Germany involves considerable costs.

After digitalisation of terrestrial signals it must be guaranteed that the programmes of public broadcasters from the respective neighbouring country can still be received in North and South Schleswig using standard receivers.

In the German-Danish borderlands the free reception of the neighbouring country’s public broadcasting services must be part of the basic media provisions for both the minorities and the majority population.

The FUEN Assembly of Delegates calls upon all decision makers at national and European level to commit to guaranteeing reception in the whole of the border region.

RESOLUTION 2008-06

The Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) in Pécs on 24th May passed the following resolution proposed by the Sydslesvigsk Forening.

With regard to the media situation of the Danish minority, it must be ascertained that the daily newspaper for the Danish minority, Flensborg Avis, is published without any kind of subsidy from either the Land Schleswig-Holstein or the Federal Republic of Germany. The enormous costs involved are covered solely by subsidies from Denmark and income generated by the Flensborg Avis itself.

The Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities is of the opinion that at least the federal government in Berlin has the duty to support the safeguarding of the further existence and financial security of the only daily Danish language newspaper in the Federal Republic of Germany in the form of project resources or institutional subsidisation.

RESOLUTION 2008-07

The Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities passes the following resolution on 24th May 2008 in Pécs / Hungary.

Contrary to the recommendation of the European parliament of October 16th 1981, to wit:

„... to promote as far as possible a correspondence between cultural regions and the geographical boundaries of the local auhorities“,

The French state has so far remained deaf to the citizens protest and the interventions of their representatives  concerning the situation of the Dept. of Loire Atlantique being kept separate from the rest of Brittany

The FUEN assembly stresses the fact this position of Europe in this respect is not secondary or of minor importance, but reflects a code of ethics which truly builds the fundament of the European Union.

The FUEN assembly urges France, a country which has brought so much to Europe in terms of culture, to take decisive steps towards respecting this code of ethics before assuming the presidency of Europe. They are convinced that such decisions would definitely enhance her image and strengthen her leadership.

RESOLUTION 2008-08

The Assembly of Delegates of the Federal Union of European Nationalities passes the following resolution on 24th May 2008 in Pécs / Hungary.

Continuing Violations against the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace in Greece

-          Recalling that the European Union is founded on the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law; principles which are common to the Member States,

-          Recalling that the protection of minorities is inherent in the protection human rights and fundamental freedoms,

-          Recalling that Greece has signed the Charter for Fundamental Rights of the European Union and is a Party to the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,

-          Recalling that Greece has signed the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and is a Party to the European Court of Human Rights,

-          Recalling that Greece has signed the Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights, and its Article 2 provides for the right not to be denied an education and the right for parents to have their children educated in accordance with their religious and other views,

We call upon the Greek state to:

1.          Recognise the existence of a Turkish ethnic and linguistic minority in Greece.

2.          Ratify, without delay and without reservations, the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

3.          Sign and ratify, without delay and without reservations, the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages.

4.          Demand that Greek authorities take steps to ensure the immediate          rectification of the unfortunate consequences arising from deprivation of Greek citizenship on the basis of former Article 19 of the Citizenship Code for all persons concerned, especially ethnic Turks. In particular, we urge the authorities to genuinely facilitate these persons’ recovery of their citizenship by removing any obstacle,          including the need for them to go through the naturalisation procedure.

5.          Ensure immediately that freedom of association is guaranteed by the GreekConstitution for all persons concerned and demand that the Greek authorities abolish all restrictions to the freedom of association for the ethnic minorities, especially ethnic Turks. Remembering that is prohibited using the denomination „Turkish“ in names or associations by the Supreme Court which suited a prohibition procedure against the Turkish Union of Xanthi founded in 1927 and not granted the foundation of the Cultural Association of Turkish Women of the Region of Rodopi, we urge the Greek State immediately end the abuse of the right of freedom of association so that civil and political rights of the ethnic minorities are guaranteed for all persons concerned.

6.          Take immediate steps to ensure that the rights to education for the ethnic minorities are guaranteed so that children in Western Thrace have a bilingual preschool education. Remembering that the ethnic Turkish minority has the right to take education in its native language according to the Treaty of Lausanne, we in particular urge the Greek State abolish the discriminatory clauses of the new Preschool law that anticipates the Greek language is a must in preschool education.