MINORITIES
&
LANGUAGES
Diverse identities - Equal Rights
Protecting national minorities and minority languages in Europe means respecting the
Linguistic
Cultural
Ethnic
Religious
identity of each person

Which minority are you?

Geographical coverage of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML)
Diverse identities – Equal rights
Krista Oinonen

A diverse world isn’t a burden. Knowing and being proud of your roots makes you able to open your heart to others without feeling threatened. I stand strong enough to find joy in others being themselves, just as they are and want to be.

Josefina Skerk, Former Vice President of the Swedish Saami Parliament.

Success Stories
The Czech Republic created a dedicated grant scheme to support the implementation of the Language Charter through funding bilingual topographical signage and other practical measures.
Croatia and many other countries provided information about the COVID-19 pandemic and related sanitary measures in minority languages and worked with civil society to reach out to minorities.
Finland, Poland, Spain and other countries include bias against Roma as a category in national hate crime statistics to monitor and address antigypsysism in society.
Hungary has created various incentives such as scholarships for students and salary top-ups for teachers to make minority language teaching more attractive as a profession.
In the Netherlands, the Province of Fryslân managed to have Frisian included into Google Translate and Microsoft Office through a community-based project translating over 1 million Frisian words.
Portugal doubled the number of Roma representatives in the inter-ministerial Consultative Council for the Integration of Roma Communities, which coordinates the national Roma integration strategy.
Switzerland fulfils all Language Charter obligations for Romansh. In Graubünden/Grischun/Grigioni, Romansh is widely used in schools, by authorities and media.

See more promising practices or check out the country reports on the Framework Convention and the Language Charter.

FIND OUT MORE