On 18 June 2018, in Strasbourg Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Marija Pejcinovic Buric opened the conference National Minorities and Minority Languages in a Changing Europe, organised as part of Croatia’s six-month Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The conference is dedicated to marking 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 most important international legal instruments for protecting national minorities at the European level. Alongside Minister Pejcinovic Buric the conference was opened by Thorbjorn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, who during his official visit to Zagreb in April 2018, emphasized the high level of protection of human rights and rights of national minorities in Croatia, and by Professor Vesna Crnic-Grotic, Chair of Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of the Council of Europe.
In her address, Minister Pejcinovic Buric pointed out that Croatia was among the first signatories of both documents, which only proves the importance it assigns to the question of protecting national minorities. She also mentioned Croatian legislation in this area, stressing that Croatia is among leading countries when it comes to the number of constitutionally recognised national minorities in Europe. In Croatia, this question is regulated by the Constitutional Act on the Protection of National Minorities which incorporates the provisions of the abovementioned instruments of the Council of Europe. Emphasis was also placed on the importance of dialogue with national minority representatives and the competent institutions in further advancing national minority rights.
The Minister also moderated the high-level session in which Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, also participated, among others. The topic was Minorities and Minority Languages in a Changing Europe.
The main organiser of this two-day event is the Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities of the Government of the Republic of Croatia in cooperation with the Council of Europe.
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