As of now FUEN is present in Berlin

This step was made possible because of the support of the German Federal Government Commissioner for Matters Related to National Minorities Hartmut Koschyk.

As FUEN and the office of the Commissioner announced today, the presence will function as coordination office for the Working Group of German Minorities AGDM, which operates within the framework of FUEN.

“In close cooperation with the Minority Secretariat of the four autochthonous national minorities, the Youth of European Nationalities and the institutions of the Sinti and Roma, the visibility of the minorities is clearly strengthened on the German Federal level and in the German capital. We will use that”, said FUEN Secretary General Susann Schenk, who is very pleased with the office.

This autumn also a representation of FUEN in Brussels will follow.

Working Group has a coordination office now

Under the roof of the Federal Union of European nationalities, the largest umbrella organisation of the autochthonous national minorities in Europe, the German minorities have had their own Working Group since 1991. 

This Working Group of German Minorities AGDM currently brings together 21 organisations.

FUEN now succeeded in establishing a coordination office to coordinate the cooperation within AGDM.
As of now Eva Adel Penzes will coordinate the office in Berlin. Born as a German of Hungary, she majored in German studies and formerly worked as director of YEN and later as project manager for FUEN.

“We want to have a close strategic cooperation with the Federal Republic of Germany in order to guarantee the future of the German minorities, their language and culture. Furthermore we make an important contribution in our own countries, where persons belonging to the German minorities are seen as Germans and contribute to good relations with Germany. Since the latest annual meeting of AGDM in Berlin, we actively pushed for establishing an office in Berlin, and we are very glad that we succeeded”, said Koloman Brenner, the chair of the Working Group. 

The AGDM Coordination Office enables and supports the enhanced cooperation between the organisations and to strengthen the visibility of the German minorities in Berlin. With the new office it is also possible to ensure that funding and activities are bundled and better coordinated. To that end also the upcoming annual meeting will contribute, which takes place in Berlin from 9-12 November 2015.

“The representation of minority interests in Europe – as peace policy – is more urgent than ever before. As a person belonging to the German minority in Denmark, I know how much is needed to contribute to more understanding and dialogue after war and conflict. It is a fundamental prerequisite to give non-governmental organisations that are committed to this the adequate means. A presence in Berlin is another step in the right direction”, said Hans Heinrich Hansen, FUEN President. “I thank Hartmut Koschyk in particular, who always considers the interests of the minorities also from a European perspective and thus has become a close ally for FUEN.”

Photo FUEN: Representatives of FUEN, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior and Federal Government Commissioner Hartmut Koschyk in Berlin 

from left to right: Jens Krumsieg, German Federal Ministry of the Interior; Susann Schenk, FUEN-Secretary General; Benjamin Jozsa, Demokratisches Forum der Deutschen in Rumanien DFDR-Germans in Romania, Director; Olga Martens, FUEN-Vice President, Vice President of Internationaler Verband der Deutschen Kultur IVDK-Germans in Russia; Hartmut Koschyk MP, Federal Government Commissioner for Matters Related to Ethnic German Resettlers and National Minorities; Dr Koloman Brenner, Working Group of German Minorities AGDM in FUEN, Chair; Eva Penzes, Working Group of German Minorities AGDM in FUEN, Coordinator; Bernard Gaida, Verband der deutschen sozial-kulturellen Gesellschaften in Polen VdG-Germans in Poland, Chair