Strasbourg / France & Vienna / Austria (RNN Correspondents) 1st - 16th February 1998

However, in many of the states which have ratified the convention, ethnic minorities complainge and culture of their minorities.

The autonomy enjoyed by Catalans and Basques in Spain was praised as exemplary. In Germany, Danes have been protected as a minority since 1955. Nor did signing the convention pose any problems for the government in Nicosia, since the linguistic rights of Greeks and Turks are anchored in the Cypriot constitution. Serious problems exist elsewhere however. Most of Croatia’s Serbs have fled,for example, threatened by war.

Estonia’s Russians (28% of total pop.) complain about the hurdles (language proficiency among them) they have to clear to obtain citizenship. Comments by the Slovak president Meciar, suggesting the voluntary resettlement of Slovakia’s 600,000 Hungarians, has led to unresolved tension between Bratislava and Budapest. The conditions of one important minority will, however, not be improved by the new convention: those Roma living primarily in Romania, Slovakia and Macedonia have traditionally had no-one to represent their interests. Remaining minorities in signatory states do nonetheless have grounds for hope, as in these countries a practical report on how to implement the convention must be produced for the Council within a year.

On the other hand, all problems have been surmounted by Liechtenstein. Here there are no minorities, but the state has nevertheless signed out of ‘‘solidarity with the international community’’.