Creating a Europe open to diversity, a Europe where no minority fears the majority is the underlying theme of a new guidance document for European state launched today at a Council of Europe’s conference in Strasbourg.
“We live in times of rising nationalism, xenophobia, fear and suspicion,” said Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland. “More than ever we must defend the rights of minorities and groups at risk of discrimination. And it is more important than ever that we demonstrate the benefits of their inclusion into society as a whole.”
The new Thematic Commentary prepared by the Council of Europe’s Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) looks at how the Committee interprets the Convention and how states parties could best use it to ensure successful integration of minorities without their forced assimilation.
The right to free self-identification is a cornerstone of minority rights, the document says. Minority identity must not be externally imposed, participation in the census and data collection should be voluntary; people should never be obliged to choose between preserving their minority identity and claiming the majority culture. (more...)
- “FCNM: diversity through minority rights” (factsheet)
- Video: interview with Mr. Peter Leuprecht, one of the founding fathers of the FCNM