The FUEN contribution to the German OSCE Chairmanship

Last Wednesday, FUEN was invited by Ambassador Antje Leendertse, Head of the Task Force for the 2016 German OSCE Chairmanship at the German Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs to have talks about the input of FUEN to the programme of activities of the OSCE and the German Chairmanship of the OSCE in 2016. The meeting was a follow up to earlier meetings in November 2015 and in January 2016.

“The German OSCE Chairmanship, with its focus on national minorities, tolerance and non-discrimination, there is of course a particular claim on the minorities and the organisations who represent them, in other words, on FUEN. For us it is important to contribute with our expertise as bridge-builders and also to table several minority issues in Europe that need solutions or at least dialogue”, said FUEN President Hans Heinrich Hansen. “That is our job as European organisation representing the interests of the minorities and as their largest umbrella organisation.”

During an fruitful meeting where both parties agreed to engage in several joint projects, also the situation of minorities and the question of refugee policies in Europe were discussed. Ambassador Antje Leendertse showed great interest in many concrete minority-related issues. 

Photo:
Meeting of FUEN President Hans Heinrich Hansen and Ambassador Antje Leendertse, the Head of the Task Force for the German OSCE Chairmanship, Alexandra Rotherberger, staff member responsible for the Human Dimension and Eva Penzes, FUEN Berlin and Coordinator of the Working Group of German Minorities inside FUEN.

Joint projects during the German OSCE Chairmanship

After the meeting in the German Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, FUEN President Hans Heinrich Hansen had a talk with the Federal Government Commissioner for Matters Related to Ethnic German Resettlers and National Minorities in the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Mr Hartmut Koschyk.

“FUEN has a very intense cooperation with Hartmut Koschyk. It is logical that together we use the German OSCE Chairmanship to raise awareness for minority concerns”, said FUEN President Hans Heinrich Hansen.

There will be other partners who will be integrated into the activities organised within the framework of the German OSCE Chairmanship.

The list currently has projects in and with Ukraine, the Baltic States and in Kazakhstan.

Also the FUEN Congress in Wroclaw/Breslau will devote significant attention to the issue of security and cooperation in Europe.

FUEN main focus during the German OSCE Chairmanship

The developments of the past few years in Europe, with wars raging in Ukraine and in Syria, with the on-going economic crisis, with major migration and an apparent tendency of renationalisation, disintegration and reinstatement of borders in Europe, have the consequence that in 2016 FUEN will more than in other years have to deal with the major topics which also the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is working on.

It is undisputed that in Europe and in the world, many delicate problems have a bearing on minority issues.

Last year the German Foreign Affairs Minister Steinmeier underlined the importance of the minorities: “The centre for international minority issues, with ECMI and FUEN is in Flensburg. We want to use their expertise in our foreign policy.“ 

FUEN will therefore in 2016 focus an important part of its activities on the OSCE. With the German Chairmanship and together with the Member Organisations, FUEN is engaged in several projects and programmes.

At the annual FUEN Congress in Wroclaw/Breslau, we will devote significant attention to what FUEN can contribute to the OSCE-efforts, both in the human dimension and also – where it is possible for us – in the field of conflict prevention. We want to use the outcomes of the discussions and bring them to the table at OSCE-events later this year.

As the largest umbrella organisation of national minorities in Europe, FUEN will also participate in the OSCE-events in 2016 that are relevant to the European minorities, so that we can promote our message, present our activities and projects, and forward the problems and concerns of our Member Organisations and other minorities in Europe to national and international actors.

Together with our Working Groups of German, Slavic and Turkic minorities we will discuss in different ways about what we, the European minorities, can contribute to the work of the OSCE. 

Furthermore we want to organise a follow up to the pilot we held together with the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR) in June 2015 and in which we want to support minorities from both Ukraine and Russia and support them to handle the effects of the conflict in Ukraine and gives them a platform. 

In order to further FUEN’s goals, we work together with many partner organisations, institutions, administrations and international organisations. FUEN is currently working on several projects for 2016 that bear a relation with the work of the OSCE. These include projects to support the Roma in Central and South Eastern Europe, a fact-finding mission to the Baltic States and a workshop in Kazakhstan that are currently being prepared.

FUEN will publish its programme of activities in due course.

More information:
Homepage of the German OSCE Chairmanship 2016
Speech Hans Heinrich Hansen at the OSCE Meeting in October 2015
Programmatic Declaration of FUEN (2013)