Minorities in dialogue with the Slovak government

At the invitation of the Plenipotentiary for National Minorities of the Slovak Republic, Lászlo Bukovszky, a delegation of Domowina and FUEN led by FUEN Vice President Bernhard Ziesch, participated in a workshop in Bratislava on September 20th.

Under the topic “Participatory mechanism models of persons belonging to national minorities in Europe”, the workshop discussed the situations of Slovak and other minorities abroad as well as minorities in Slovakia. Alongside with the Lusatian Sorbs, members of the Polish minority from the Czech Republic, the Hungarian minority in Slovakia, and the Slovak minorities from Serbia and Hungary joined the debate.

In his presentation for the minority and government representatives, Bernhard Ziesch introduced the situation of the Lusatian Sorbs as well as the other minorities in Germany, the already existing participatory mechanisms and legal foundations. Special attention was drawn to the common international work of the Working Group of Slavic Minorities under the umbrella of FUEN.

Ziesch furthermore promoted the Minority SafePack Initiative and asked for joint support among the representatives. This citizens’ initiative calls for the enhancement of the protection of the European national minorities and their languages on European level and the reinforcement of cultural and linguistic diversity. The European Union needs to concern itself with the elaboration of laws and legal possibilities in the fields of education and culture, languages, media, regional politics, minority representations, equality and the assurance of financial means.

Even though means of political participation and representation for minorities in Slovakia are still limited, the workshop served as a ‘door-opener’ for dialogue between the minorities and the government. Cooperation and dialogue between minorities and governments will increasingly become important in the future; in order to strengthen partnerships and secure peace and security by not losing sight of the minorities needs in public. The European Union can only sustain, if cultural and linguistic diversity and the affairs of the minorities will continue to be respected by its citizens in the future.