FUEN President and Minority Commissioner together at the European Affairs Committee

At the 22nd meeting of the European Affairs Committee of the Landtag (regional parliament) in Kiel FUEN President Hans Heinrich Hansen gave a report. After a debate in parliament already in September 2013 the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag decided unanimously to support the European citizens’ initiative “Minority SafePack”, after it was rejected by the European Commission.

In the Committee the FUEN President had the opportunity to present the latest developments and to speak about the general situation of FUEN. A very important topic was the financial position of the largest umbrella organisation of the European minorities. Furthermore Hans Heinrich Hansen pointed to the idea to begin working on an initiative report within the framework of the Committee of the Regions.

The FUEN President was accompanied by the Commissioner of the Prime Minister for Minority Issues, Renate Schnack. In many aspects the Minority Commissioner supports the activity of FUEN and in particular as regards the “House of Minorities”, which is under development in Flensburg, she is one of the most important supporters of this ambitious project.

Following the resolution of the Landtag from September, the Committee supported the efforts of the minorities in Europe to engage in a citizens’ initiative. Furthermore the Committee stated that it will look for contact with the Minority Commissioner of the German Federal Government, Hartmut Koschyk, in order to plead for improvement of the financial situation of FUEN.