The Chamber of Regions held a debate on linguistic diversity in Europe, on 19 October 2017, in Strasbourg. Lelia HUNZIKER (Switzerland, SOC) and Anna MAGYAR (Hungary, EPP-CCE) presented their report on the regional and minority languages in Europe today, underlining the importance of measures to consolidate and develop regional or minority language teaching as well as education in these languages in the regions where they are spoken. The Chair of the Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, Vesna CRNIĆ-GROTIĆ, highlighted the need for support in ratifying the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. “At present, the Charter has 25 States Parties, which leaves 22 Council of Europe member states that have not yet ratified it”, she stressed, pointing out that even though many States Parties were promoting regional and minority languages, there were still many challenges remaining – for example, regional authorities were not always fully aware of their obligations under the Charter. “Regional and local authorities should adopt a pro-active approach in implementing their obligations and not wait until guidance is given by the national level”, added Ms CRNIĆ-GROTIĆ, concluding her presentation with an invitation to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Charter in 2018.
Mediabox interview with Vesna CRNIC-GROTIC
