Pro Minoritate Europae – a collection of studies by the EP’s Minority Intergroup

2009-03-19

The English and Hungarian language versions of the volume of studies entitled Pro Minoritate Europae was presented in Brussels on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the European Parliament’s National Minority Intergroup.


The volume was edited by Hungarian MEP Csaba Tabajdi (S&D), the president of the Intergroup and its publication was supported by the political groups of the EP. DAHR’s MEP Csaba Sógor is amongst the authors with his study on „Intercultural education and its challenges in Romania”.

The studies of the volume come mostly from the member of the Minority Intergroup. Leading politicians, such as Hans-Gert Pöttering, the President of the EP, Katalin Szili, president of the Hungarian Parliament, Kinga Göncz, Hungary’s foreign relation minister and Ján Figel, commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth prefaced the volume containing eight thematic chapters, but persons active in the field of minority rights protection, officials and independent specialists are also included.

The volume tackles the issue of the European framework for the protection of minority rights and presents the best practices and challenges of the different forms of autonomy found in the EU. An entire chapter is dedicated to the importance of language in preserving the identity of the minorities.

The Minority Intergroup’s activity, presided by Csaba Tabajdi since 2004, is presented in one chapter, followed by essays, writings and letters detailing the situation of the Hungarian community living outside the borders of Hungary. Writings about minority rights and infringement of these rights present these problems based on regions and ethnic communities.

Besides the editor, the Hungarian authors of the volume are: Edit Bauer - MEP, Gáspár Bíró – university professor, Árpád Duka-Zólyomi - MEP, Kinga Gál Kinga - MEP, Ferenc Glatz - academic, Kinga Göncz– foreign relations minister,  Péter Hantz - researcher, Magda Kósáné Kovács - MEP, Péter Kovács – constitutional court judge, university professor, Péter Olajos - MEP, Péter Göndör - diplomat, Dávid Korányi – EP specialist, József Komlóssy – minority rights activist, József Kötő – MP in the Romanian Parliament, György Schöpflin - MEP, Csaba Sógor - MEP, István Szent-Iványi - MEP,  Katalin Szili -  president of the Hungarian Parliament, László Tőkés - MEP, Balázs Vizi - researcher.