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PRESS RELEASE
Council of Europe publishes report on regional or minority languages in Poland

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. The report has been drawn up by a committee of independent experts, which monitors the application of the Charter.

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. Poland has also been asked to strengthen the offer of broadcasting in all regional or minority languages. Concerning the use of regional or minority languages in relations with local and regional authorities as well as on place-name signs, the Polish authorities have been encouraged to reconsider the application of the 20%-threshold. Special measures are needed in order to facilitate the application of the Charter to the less-widely used Armenian, Czech, Karaim, Romani, Russian, Slovak, Tatar and Yiddish languages. Furthermore, Poland should promote awareness and tolerance in Polish society at large vis-à-vis the regional or minority languages and the cultures they represent.

The full report and Committee of Ministers' recommendations can be downloaded from the Charter website (www.coe.int/minlang) (in the "Documents" section).

Further information can also be found on the Charter’s website or by contacting the Charter Secretariat (Council of Europe, F-67075 Strasbourg, minlang.secretariat@coe.int, tel. +33 (0)3 88 41 31 86).