FUEN President Olivia Schubert at UN Forum on Minority Issues in Geneva

From 26 to 28 November, FUEN President Olivia Schubert was in Geneva (Switzerland) for the 18th Session of the UN Forum on Minority Issues at the Palais des Nations. The Forum itself took place on 27–28 November under the theme “The Contribution of Minorities to Diverse, Resilient, and Peaceful Societies”, preceded on 26 November by a preparatory meeting and a dedicated civil society dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Prof. Nicolas Levrat.

At the civil society exchange with Prof. Levrat on 26 November, Schubert outlined the main concerns of FUEN’s member organisations regarding minority protection in the European Union. She pointed to the lack of a minimum standard for the protection of national minorities, the absence of clear EU competences in this field and the reluctance of the European Commission to address traditional minorities in a structured way. She stressed that without the work of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Traditional Minorities, National Communities and Languages, minority issues would hardly appear on the agenda in Brussels. Schubert invited Prof. Levrat to meet FUEN’s European Dialogue Forum during his planned visit to Brussels in January 2026 and called on him to support the implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities within EU institutions.

Beyond this meeting, the UN Forum on Minority Issues is an annual platform bringing together more than 700 participants from all regions of the world. It allows civil society, experts and minority representatives to report to the UN Special Rapporteur on key issues within his mandate, present good practices and highlight remaining gaps in the implementation of the UN Minorities Declaration. The inputs from the Forum, including FUEN’s interventions, will be reflected in the recommendations that Prof. Levrat submits to the UN Human Rights Council.

On 28 November, Schubert delivered FUEN’s statement under Item 2 of the agenda, “Recognizing the full contribution of minorities to the economic, social, cultural, political and institutional fabric of society“. She underlined the contribution of national and linguistic minorities to education, culture and public life and recalled that around 50 million EU citizens belong to a national or linguistic minority and need a reliable legal and institutional framework.

Referring to the rejection of the Minority SafePack Initiative (MSPI) by the European Court of Justice in June 2025, she stated that the UN Declaration on the Rights of Minorities remains the key global instrument, but that more than 30 years after its adoption, “minority protection must be made fit for the 21st century”.

On behalf of FUEN, Schubert presented four concrete recommendations: (1) formalised coordination on minority issues between the UN, EU and Council of Europe and the development of a joint global treaty on minority rights, (2) the establishment of a permanent UN Forum on Minority Issues, (3) regular dialogue between the UN Special Rapporteur and civil society on the situation of traditional and linguistic minorities, and (4) stronger attention to the challenges faced by minority women and youth. “In this endeavour, we count on the support of UN Special Rapporteur Prof. Nicolas Levrat to continue advancing minority rights,” Schubert concluded.

In her intervention, Schubert also highlighted the breadth of FUEN’s work: projects on minority education, political participation and representation, the Women of Minorities network and the Forum of European Minority Regions, all aimed at strengthening the role of minorities as recognised contributors to their societies. Today FUEN represents 122 member organisations from 38 European countries and is Europe’s largest and oldest umbrella organisation of autochthonous national minorities, ethnic groups and language communities.

On the margins of the Forum, Schubert met representatives of several FUEN member organisations and held talks with the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Christophe Kamp, and the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI). She also took part in a coordination meeting with civil society partners working on minority-related issues, including the Geneva-based UNPO, Minority Rights Group, the Tom Lantos Institute and several minority experts, where participants discussed follow-up to the Forum and joint advocacy priorities.