On the right to use minority languages in Europe

The European Greens have a role to fulfil in protecting the rights of all minorities and ensuring that Europe is home to all. Increasingly extreme nationalism, xenophobia and intolerance have been on the rise throughout the continent. The European Greens believe that rights of minorities, including the rights of national minorities, should be equally guaranteed across the continent.

1. The European Greens believe that ratifying the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities is a crucial step in protecting all minorities in Europe.

2. We, European Greens, stress the importance of stability, solidarity and peaceful coexistence of the multitude of people living in Europe and believe that as Europe is unified through diversity, so are its countries unified through their interior diversity. Thus the protection of the rights of national minorities should remain a priority on the political agenda.

3. Protecting minority rights will also support the stability of societies, their economic development and the sharing of our prosperity to all.

4. Best practices for the protection of the rights of national minorities should be widely considered and implemented to enhance the protection and promotion of the rights of persons belonging to national minorities.

5. We, European Greens believe that territorial self-government arrangements, can also contribute to effectively protecting minority rights with a collective dimension and avoiding assimilation.

6. Therefore, we urge members of the Council of Europe to:

   1. Encourage countries that have not yet done so to sign, ratify and implement in good faith the Charter;

   2. Promote the official use of languages spoken by national minorities in the territories where they live, at local or regional level, in conformity with the principles of the European Charter on Regional or Minority Languages;

   3. Formulate education policies that take into account the needs of national minorities, such as specific educational systems and institutions, as well as special modules included in the already existing educational systems;

   4. Support European and national strategies for the promotion of literacy, both in the mother tongue and in the official language, among socially deprived minority groups;

   5. Encourage the preservation and development of minority languages through relevant measures in the field of higher education;

   6. Consider and encourage the promotion of minority languages as part of the cultural heritage and encourage the visibility of minority languages in public and state media;

   7. Seek and ensure the active involvement of minority groups in the development, implementation and monitoring of the principles of the Charter.