Parliamentary-Debate in the German Bundestag - recognition for minorities in Germany and in Europe

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the "European Charter of Regional or Minority Languages" (June 25th), a parliamentary debate takes place in the German Bundestag, in which FUEN President Loránt Vincze and representatives of the FUEN member organizations are paticipating.

The debate is supported by a proposal from the coalition parliamentary groups CDU / CSU and SPD to strengthen the political participation of the four recognized minorities and the speakers of the regional language Niederdeutsch (Lower German language).

The request also includes an invitation to the Federal Government to "work in the relevant bodies of the European Union to strengthen cultural and linguistic diversity in the European Union through appropriate measures for the Charter languages".

"The parliamentary debate is a recognition of the work of the minorities at all levels and shows the broad parliamentary support for the concerns of the minorities in Germany and in a European context," acknowledged the FUEN President.

Already on Wednesday, the 31.05., FUEN representatives were invited  to the German Bundestag to introduce the European citizens' initiative Minority SafePack. The Citizens Initiative calls on the EU to improve the protection of persons belonging to national minorities and language minorities and to strengthen cultural and linguistic diversity in the European Union.

Under the leadership of Ansgar Heveling, the chairman of the German Bundestag, and in the presence of the commissioner of the Federal Government for Immigration and National Minorities, Hartmut Koschyk, Hans Heinrich Hansen, from the German minority in Denmark, and FUEN President Loránt Vincze, Hungarian minority in Romania, used the political dimension of the Minority SafePack Initiative to establish minority concerns at a European level.

"It is our concern to receive a broad solidarity support. We also promote this in the German Bundestag. We thank the Minorities Council and the Minority Secretariat for the initiative and are looking forward to a stimulating debate in the German Bundestag," said the FUEN President in Berlin.

All four recognized minorities in Germany and their organizations are members of the FUEN.

The debate can be followed live from 12:35-13:10 pm on the Bundestag website: https://www.bundestag.de/#url=L3ByZXNzZS9oaWIvMjAxN18wNi8tLzUwOTQxOA==&mod=mod445722


Photo: https://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2017/kw22-de-minderheitensprachen/507588