Future and prospects of the Working Group of German Minorities inside FUEN

From 17 until 19 March 2016 the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) organised a meeting of the Working Group of German Minorities inside FUEN (AGDM) in Berlin. Twenty-one German minorities participated in the meeting of this year, represented by their chairs or members of their boards. The main topics at the meeting were the future and the structure of the Working Group, and there were also discussions in order to plan the 25^th anniversary of the Working Group.

The Working Group of German Minorities inside FUEN was founded in Budapest in 1991. Today it unites more than 23 organisations in 21 countries, making it the largest Working Group inside FUEN.

“The AGDM showed the funding organisations that they should not just talk about the minorities, but speak with them. It is exactly the same dialogue that I expect to occur inside the various Working Groups that we have – in the Working Group of Slavic Minorities and the Working Group of Turkic Minorities”, said FUEN President Hans Heinrich Hansen.

Although the Working Group of German Minorities inside FUEN (AGDM) has a long experience and is an example for other, there are still some wishes that are not yet satisfied in order to make the work of the Working Group more effective. The members of the Working Group want to achieve this through a stable basis and clear structures within the Working Group. These were the issues that were discussed intensively at the beginning of the meeting. The proposal to include some new provisions in the Rules of Procedure and to elect a speaker for the Working Group in August or the beginning of September was well received and was supported unanimously by all those who were present. 

Within the framework of the working meeting the members of the Working Group were able to discuss and substantiate their work programme for 2016 and to address the problems of the minorities in their respective countries in dialogue with the Federal Government Commissioner for Matters Related to Ethnic German Resettlers and National Minorities, Hartmut Koschyk, and with Dr Alexander Schumacher, the Head of Unit AM3 of the German Federal Ministry of the Interior.

Hartmut Koschyk emphasised how important FUEN and the Working Group of German Minorities are and announced that he would undertake a number of visits, such as to the FUEN Congress in Wrocław / Breslau from 18-22 May 2016.

“It is really important that FUEN makes itself heard and demonstrates that minority rights and minority policies are very crucial factors for any peace policy. And it is good that FUEN is present this year in Wrocław / Breslau and in the Baltic States”, said the Minority Commissioner of the German Federal Government.

Another important element for peace policy are the Governmental Commissions that have been functioning for many years in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. In further countries similar meetings should take place once a year.

The anniversary year of the Working Group and the brochure that will be published on that occasion about the German minorities in Europe and the CIS-states and a projected travelling exhibition were also important topics for discussion.

Other subjects for discussion were the annual priorities of 2016, the Coordination Office that was established six months ago in Berlin and the activities and challenges related to this office.

In order to give some input to the newly established office, and to present the activities of the Minority Council of the four national and autochthonous minorities in Germany to the representatives of the Working Group, the leader of the Minority Secretariat in Berlin, Ms Judith Walde, was invited. At the end of the meeting some proposals for enhancing communication of the Working Group members and the Coordination Office in Berlin were adopted.

During the discussions of the Working Group members, in the afternoon, a meeting of the FUEN Presidium took place. FUEN will soon have its annual congress, which will have a full programme. There will be amendments to the statutes and a new Presidium will start its work in 2016. Also the planned projects of this year, such as the EUROPEADA 2016, the largest European Football Championship of the minorities, and FUEN’s participation and involvement in several OSCE-activities are approaching.

At the meeting the preparations for EUROPEADA 2016 were discussed, and also the activities that FUEN will undertake in the framework of its cooperation with the OSCE in 2016. The most important subject, however, was the preparation of the upcoming congress in Wrocław / Breslau from 18-22 May 2016 and the Assembly of Delegates that will be there on 21 May. At this election Assembly a new Presidium will be elected for a period of three years and some amendments to the statutes are proposed. The Presidium additionally discussed those proposals by the member organisations that it already received.

Photos from the meeting