FUEN President and Vice President took part in minority conference organised by the Hungarian EU Presidency

FUEN President MEP Loránt Vincze and Vice President Bahne Bahnsen took part on 7-8 November in the international conference National minority policy in the European Union, organised by the Hungarian EU Presidency. "The European Union has never had a presidency that has put the protection of minorities on the agenda. I would like to thank the Hungarian Presidency for finally raising the rights of autochthonous national minorities to the level of Member States", said MEP Loránt Vincze at the conference held in Budapest.

He pointed out that the situation of autochthonous minorities in Europe has deteriorated considerably over the past decade and a half. Although there are positive examples in Europe, in the current international context there are negative trends in Ukraine and in the Baltic States, where Russian schools are being closed; meanwhile the recommendations of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the Language Charter are increasingly being ignored in countries that have ratified them, reported Vincze. The FUEN President presented the conclusions of the FUEN expert meeting and the Main Resolution of the 2024 FUEN Congress, which addresses the EU institutions, the Council of Europe and the UN.

FUEN Vice President Bahne Bahnsen was invited to the conference to present the North Frisian minority in Schleswig-Holstein. The Danes and Sorbs from Germany, the German speakers and Ladins from South Tyrol, the Alsatians and the nationalities of Hungary were also presented at the event.

The participants adopted a joint Declaration, in which they call on the decision-makers of the European Union to take all necessary action and develop a legal framework that guarantees the rights of the national minorities, set up the appropriate consultative fora and provide sufficient financial resources in order that

• national minority languages as prominent carriers of the linguistic and cultural diversity of Europe shall be sustained;
• assimilation tendency is slowed down, therefore national minorities can remain at their motherland;
• national minority languages can be used to the largest extent in private and public life