The minorities of Europe will meet at the FUEN Congress in Eisenstadt/Željezno

The largest meeting of the autochthonous minorities and regional and minority languages in Europe this year will once again be organised by FUEN. From 1 till 4 June it will be organised in Haydn-city Eisenstadt, Austria, in cooperation with FUEN-member organisation Hrvatsko kulturno društvo u Gradišću / Croatian Cultural Association in Burgenland.

About 180 participants from over 20 European countries are expected to come, and they will experience a multifaceted programme. One main subject of the meeting will be the situation of the Roma. The winner of the Toepfer-Foundation prize, Timea Junghaus, will be one of the speakers giving the participants an insight to the difficult situation of this people, but she foremost will underline the achievements of this European minority. In the run-up to the congress FUEN-president Hans Heinrich Hansen says: “As representative organisation of the minorities in Europe, we of course have to openly address the utmost scandal in Europe – namely the situation of the Roma in Europe. It is conspicuous that in all those documents, either from the European Commission or from the European Parliament, the fact that the Roma are national minorities, is only marginally mentioned or not at all.” The Society for Threatened Peoples was attracted as a cooperation partner together with its president Tilman Zülch, who also will participate in the congress.

The delegates of the 86 FUEN member organisations are also in demand: in total seven resolutions and two motions can be adopted. The delegates will have to decide if they want to support the Nobel-Peace-Prize nomination for the famous dissident Mustafa Abdülcemil Qırımoğlu (Mustafa Dzhemilev). Furthermore five organisations of minorities in Europe – among them the Sami from Sweden – applied for membership in FUEN.

Of course the participants will also be given an introduction into the history, present and future of the Burgenland Croats – the hosts of the congress. One of the keynote speeches will be given by the Ombudswoman of Austria, Terezija Stoisits, who herself is a Burgenland Croat, and afterwards there will be a discussion on the current situation of the Burgenland Croats.

The guests will be able to experience the rich cultural life in the region and they will marvel at Esterházy Palace, its famous Haydn-Hall and a concert.

We look particularly forward to the speech by the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina and EU Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Valentin Inzko. In recent weeks the news from Bosnia and Herzegovina has been pretty dramatic and on the Balkans things are simmering further. The speaker is not just a major political actor on the Balkans, but he is also a delegate of FUEN. Valentin Inzko is the chairman of the Carinthian Slovenes, who are also member of FUEN.

Source: www.fuen.org