Minorities

Minorities

The Roma people are a minority in many European countries. So are the Hungarians in Romania, the Danish speaking people in Germany and the German speaking people in Denmark.

The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and Art.13 TEC forbid discrimination against national minorities.

It is a part of the Copenhagen criteria that applicant countries must respect their national minorities and give them full and equal rights. This also applies to countries whose citizens may feel forced to accept immigration from the old Soviet Union.

Notes

The many different national minorities in Europe have a common office in the German town of Flensburg.

Links

Charter: http://www.europarl.eu.int/charter/default_en.htm

Council of Europe: http://www.coe.int/