HAPPENING AT THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
A national minority is «a group which is numerically smaller than the rest of the population, whose members, made up of citizens of the state, are the harbingers of ethnic, religious or linguistic values, different from those of the rest of the population, and are driven to safeguard their culture, their traditions, their religion and their language». Basically, they are people who are "different" from those around them and unfortunately the "different" always need to be protected in some way. Centuries go by but nothing changes, or change comes too slowly: if you're not like everyone else, for whatever reason, the "others" tend to see you as a danger. This is also why the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) have joined forces for a project to raise awareness of human rights standards.
In recent days, a joint initiative was launched which should provide a «collection of the standards of the Council of Europe and the OSCE on national minorities». It is a web page that «illustrates the long and solid cooperation between the two institutions, as well as their complementarity», according to the statement signed by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, and by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Kairat Abdrakhmanov. «The definition of norms and guidelines – highlights the text – is only one of the important aspects in the protection of human rights. The effective implementation of these standards and the monitoring of their compliance are essential to ensure that they serve the purpose for which they were established and thus contribute to social cohesion, the creation of resilient societies and the maintenance of peace».
The two leaders were keen to reiterate that «in the current difficult geopolitical context, creating close ties between the two institutions is more important than ever». After all, both organizations have been working on this issue for decades. The Council of Europe carries out its mission concerning national minorities through the rules set in the Framework Convention and the Charter of Languages, it controls and monitors the compliance of those states that have signed and organizes cooperation activities which support national authorities in their application and the intergovernmental cooperation for the elaboration of policy instruments. The OSCE, for its part, promotes stability, peace and democracy through an all-encompassing concept of security that covers the political-military, economic and environmental and human aspects. It also established the position of High Commissioner on National Minorities as a means of preventing possible conflicts, through analyses, recommendations and thematic guidelines.
It is a social failure that even today we must still work to protect those who are in the minority in a place just because they perhaps speak a different language from the others. But until there is no longer a need, these initiatives are fundamental.
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Kairat Abdrakhmanov
