In the last century a problem of national minorities appeared and the heads of governments had to start solving them and be aware of this issue. Especially when we are living in the time of globalisation, migration flows, creation of multicultural societies and rise of nationalism also from the side of many national minorities, which struggle for their rights within states or nation-states.
This project work focuses on the national minorities in Europe with emphasis on their linguistic rights – because the language is one of the crutial elements of the national or ethnic identity. Firstly, I will discuss the problematic of national minorities in generall: what are the national minorities, why is this important to be aware of and why should we protect them.
Not written in defense of the Corsican, Euskal Herria, Breizh and Others and among many documents connected to the European Charter, this piece is of interest and show how much the lack of material regarding the terrible consequences the "french" policies have had on the concerned populations makes so difficult the general understanding of the difficult challenges they face.
A situation the french gov is largely responsible for through a careful and selected choice in various areas of education, culture and politics with the clear intention to make any attempt to ask for rights a misguided political act often characterised as nationalist sometimes described as "fascist".
However, the national minorities often have their own (national) identity diverging from the identity of the majority, which create the nation and the feel of nationalism. Both the majority and the minority´s identity mostly stands as a centrifugal force, specially when there is a nationalism and a strong feeling of unique nation and national identity on one side and on the other the aspiration of the minority. More concrete, the centrifugal force lie in the opposite interests, nation-state and homogenous population within versus demands of national minorities for the recognition of fragmented society and cultural diversity inside states.
A good introduction to (10) Objectives :
As is made clear in the preamble, the charter’s overriding purpose is cultural. It is designed to protect and promote regional or minority languages as a threatened aspect of Europe’s cultural heritage. For this reason it not only contains a non-discrimination clause concerning the use of these languages but also provides for measures offering active support for them: the aim is to ensure, as far as reasonably possible, the use of regional or minority languages in education and the media and to permit their use in judicial and administrative settings, economic and social life and cultural activities. Only in this way can such languages be compensated, where necessary, for unfavourable conditions in the past and preserved and developed as a living facet of Europe’s cultural identity.
(french)
Ainsi qu'il est bien précisé dans le préambule, l'objectif dominant de la charte est d'ordre culturel. Elle est destinée à protéger et à promouvoir les langues régionales ou minoritaires en tant qu'aspect menacé du patrimoine culturel européen. Pour cette raison, non seulement elle contient une clause de non-discrimination concernant l'emploi de ces langues, mais elle prévoit également des mesures leur offrant un appui actif: le but étant d'assurer, autant qu'il est raisonnablement possible, l'emploi des langues régionales ou minoritaires dans l'enseignement et dans les médias et de permettre leur usage dans le monde judiciaire et administratif, dans la vie économique et sociale, et dans les activités culturelles. Ce n'est qu'ainsi que pourront être compensées, en cas de besoin, les conditions défavorables réservées à ces langues dans le passé, et qu'il sera possible de les maintenir et de les développer en tant que facettes vivantes de l'identité culturelle européenne.
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