Final stages of the Joint Programme “Minorities in Russia: Developing Languages, Culture, Media and Civil Society”
21/12/2011: We are entering the concluding phase of the Joint Programme, following very successful activities during the third year. Highlights include the Call for Proposals Final Conference where the project results of small organisations across Russia working for National Minorities were announced; Russian and Council of Europe expert collaboration researching the impact of the potential ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages; and the Final Conference in Moscow announcing the overall results of the Joint Programme. Forthcoming, two comprehensive publications will be released on Civil Society action for minorities in the Russian Federation and the results of the Joint Programme: “Civil Society and National Minorities” and “The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in the Russian Federation”.

Council of Europe publishes report on regional or minority languages in Poland
07/12/2011: Strasbourg, 7 December 2011. The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers has today made public the first report on the application of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in Poland. Poland has been encouraged to make available education in Belorussian, German, Kashub, Lemko and Ukrainian as a medium of instruction at pre-school, primary and secondary levels. For this purpose, the Polish authorities should provide the basic and further training of a sufficient number of teachers who are able to teach subjects in these languages (more...).

Liet Festival - Friesland wins Minority Song Contest in Italy
21/11/2011: The young Frisian singer Janna Eijer (22) from Jubbega has won the eighth edition of Liet International, the big international song contest for contemporary songs in European minority languages, in Udine on 19 November. At Liet International songs were in Asturian, Basque, Burgenland-Croatian, Frisian, Friulian, Irish, Ladinian, Rumantsch, Sámi, Scottish Gaelic, Vepsian, Udmurt. The public award went to Coffeeshock Company, an energetic reggae, hiphop, rap band from Burgenland, in the eastern part of Austria. Liet International was organised by the Frisian foundation Liet International in cooperation with Friulian cultural organisations. The song festival is supported by the Council of Europe and is placed under the patronage of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

Council of Europe publishes report on regional or minority languages in Sweden
12/10/2011: The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers has today made public the fourth report on the application of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in Sweden. On the basis of this report, the Council of Europe makes a series of recommendations to Sweden to strengthen education for all regional or minority languages. (more...).

30 Years of Action for Regional or Minority Languages
06/10/2011: Thirty years ago, on 7 October 1981, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted Recommendation 928 which initiated the drafting process of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Recommendation 928 called upon states to support the use of minority languages in public life. On its basis, the Council of Europe held in 1984 a public hearing of several hundred representatives of over forty minority languages. The hearing showed that many regional and minority languages were under serious threat. As a result, the Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (now the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities) set up a group of experts to prepare a preliminary draft of the Charter. (more...).

Joint Programme Minorities in Russia Update
06/05/2011: There has been a number of activities in the Joint Programme: “Minorities in Russia: Developing Languages, Culture, Media, and Civil Society” so far this year. Two seminars have been held to share best practice in mass media for regional or minority languages – one in Saransk, Republic of Mordovia and one in Barnaul, Altai Krai. Experts are currently working on a simulation Monitoring report of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages for the Republic of Dagestan following a three-day on-the-spot visit from 29-31 March. A follow-up roundtable on the simulation Monitoring report for Altai Krai was also held on 19-20 April for local actors and representatives of the local and regional authorities to consider the implications of findings on the regional or minority language situation there. The Joint Working Group of Russian and foreign experts held two meetings in February and April to discuss the joint conclusions on six of the ten separate research issues investigating the implications of ratification of the ECRML in the Russian Federation. Finally, there was an information seminar on ECRML in Kazan on 28 April a day after the 125th anniversary of the Tatar poet Gabdulla Tukay.

Charter plays important role in human rights protection
19/10/2010: The Chair of the Committee of Experts of the Charter, Professor Stefan Oeter, has underlined the contribution the Charter makes to the protection of human rights in Europe. At the ceremony to mark the 60th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights on 19 October 2010, Mr Oeter emphasized that the Charter complements the Human Rights Convention by laying down specific linguistic rights.
The Charter would make a unique contribution to human rights protection by obliging states not only to abstain from undermining minority languages, but also to take active measures for their promotion. "Language is probably the most important feature of a national minority. When a national minority loses its language, complete assimilation will usually follow soon."
Mr Oeter also encouraged States Parties to fully implement the Charter, even if this requires long-term efforts. "Contrary to what had been feared in the 1990s, states have quite often opted for ambitious undertakings under the Charter which some of them now find difficult to fully comply with." During a period of perceived "monitoring fatigue", he encouraged States Parties to the Charter to "struggle against resignation" and to maintain their ambitious spirit.
Mr Oeter was participating in a panel on the future of the protection of human rights in Europe along with the chairpersons of the other Council of Europe monitoring bodies.

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