A high-level conference “Minorities and Minority Languages in a Changing Europe” will be held in Strasbourg on 18-19 June on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the entry into force of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, the two key treaties of the Council of Europe in this area.
The event held under the Croatian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe will take stock of the evolution of the protection of national minorities’ rights and their languages over the past twenty years. The conference will specifically look at the current developments shaping the situation of national minorities and languages, the role of language and education policies in the interplay between minority and official languages, as well as the opportunities offered by technological innovations to persons belonging to minorities.
The conference will be opened by Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe; H.E. Marija Pejčinović Burić, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia, Chair of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe; Vesna Crnić-Grotić, Chair of Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages; and Edita Žiobienė, Interim President of the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. The keynote speech will be delivered by Josefina Skerk, member of the Swedish Sami Parliament.
