Csaba Sógor calls on the European Ombudsman to also address minority issues
“The European Ombudsman should engage in raising awareness about the national minority rights specified in the European agreements and treaties”- pointed out Csaba Sógor in the European Parliament. The EP reviewed the activities of the institution for the year 2013 on Thursday, January 15th.
During the EP debate on the activity of the European Ombudsman, the Transylvanian MEP called on the institution to strengthen the extent to which European institutions provide information on minority rights. In the opinion of the MEP the European Ombudsman plays an important role in addressing the concerns of citizens, thus it is important that the rights of national minorities are well advertised by this institution. The RMDSZ politician pointed out that the Ombudsman launched an awareness campaign on the rights of persons with disabilities, and believes this activity should be extended to national minority rights as well. ”Minority communities should be better informed about the work of the Ombudsman, and their rights provided by the European treaties should be brought closer to them” - said Csaba Sógor.
Reviewing the activities of the institution for the year 2013 showed that the Ombudsman received 23.245 contact requests from the citizens asking for help. The most popular subjects included: transparency in the EU institutions, ethical issues, participation of citizens in the EU decision making process, programmes and projects financed by the EU and fundamental rights. According to the report, most of the citizens who contacted the institution were from Spain, Germany, Poland and Belgium.
The MEPs addressed several human rights and minority rights issues during the January plenary session of the European parliament. Csaba Sógor made a presentation entitled Minorities and Social Cohesion at the meeting of the Paneuropean Workgroup of the EP, where the participants agreed that there is a need for a paradigm shift regarding the European minority protection laws. Regarding his speech on the European Year of Development (2015 is the year of development cooperation) Csaba Sógor stressed his belief that the European Union and its member states should pay more attention to human rights issues.
