European Parliament Event Calls for Stronger Protection of Minority Languages on European Day of Languages

On the occasion of the European Day of Languages, the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Traditional Minorities, National Communities and Languages hosted the event “Pillars of Diversity: Our linguistic heritage shapes Europe”, highlighting the cultural, social, and economic importance of Europe’s rich multilingual heritage.

The event opened with keynote speeches by Sabine Verheyen, First Vice-President of the European Parliament, and Member of the European Parliament Loránt Vincze, Chair of the Intergroup on Traditional Minorities, National Communities and Languages and president of FUEN. Both underlined that linguistic diversity is not a challenge to be overcome but a strength to be preserved and promoted.

Photos: © European Union 2025 - Source : EP, Alexis Haulot

“Languages are not simply tools of communication. They are vessels of identity, culture, and memory. If a language disappears, a worldview disappears with it,” said Vice-President Verheyen. She emphasized that multilingualism is at the heart of the EU’s democratic legitimacy, allowing every citizen to participate in their own language. “All our languages are the pillars of diversity that shape Europe. On this European Day of Languages, let us commit to protect them, to promote them, and to pass them on to the next generation!”

Loránt Vincze called minority and regional languages “treasures we must preserve for future generations,” pointing to three key pillars for action: Education – ensuring access to mother-tongue learning from an early age; Visibility – promoting minority languages in public and private life; Digital presence – securing a place for regional and minority languages in Europe’s digital and technological future.

“We want citizens not to feel embarrassed or discriminated against, but proud when they speak their language — in the street, in a shop, at school, at work, or online,” Vincze said.

The programme continued with a roundtable discussion, “Fitting minority languages into the European agenda: Do we matter?”, moderated by Johan Hagmann.

Anna Sole Mena, Senior Expert at the European Commission’ Directorate General for Culture (DG EAC) highlighted existing EU instruments such as Erasmus+, Creative Europe, and research programmes like Horizon Europe, which already support projects for minority languages, while stressing the need to make these opportunities more accessible for small grassroots organisations. Robert Dunbar, representing the Committee of Experts at the Council of Europe pointed to the importance of strengthening commitments under the Council of Europe’s treaties, while Anna Jungner-Nordgren, Chair of NLPD underlined the value of embedding linguistic diversity into mainstream EU programmes and fostering structured dialogue with networks such as NPLD and FUEN. Jens A. Christiansen, Spokesperson of FUEN’s European Dialogue Forum shared concrete experiences from Schleswig-Holstein, where joint minority-majority action plans are making minority languages more visible in education, administration, and public life.

As Europe celebrated the 25th anniversary of the European Day of Languages, participants sent a united message: multilingualism is not a cost but an investment in Europe’s democratic, cultural, and economic future. The discussion made clear that while progress has been made, Europe’s linguistic diversity — with more than 60 regional and minority languages spoken by 40–50 million people — remains fragile and in need of stronger recognition. Eurobarometer data shows that the overwhelming majority of EU citizens support linguistic diversity, including minority and regional languages. The public support is there, now it is up to the EU to do its part.

 As part of the European Day of Languages, FUEN runs a day-long awareness-raising campaign in the European Parliament. Before the conference, the stand was visited by Sabine Verheyen, First Vice-President of the European Parliament.

Loránt Vincze, Sabine Verheyen, FUEN Secretary General Éva Pénzes and Jens A. Christiansen at the FUEN stand