Federal Union of European Nationalities
The Federal Union of European Nationalities ( FUEN, English:. Federal Union of European Nationalities, FUEN ) is a formally independent umbrella association of organizations of national minorities in Europe with currently closed together 81 member organizations from 32 European countries.
History
FUEN was on 19 - 20th Founded in November 1949 in Versailles ( France). It sees itself as a successor to the existing 1925 to 1938 European Congress of Nationalities. Its first president was the Belgian Charles Plisnier. Since 1989, the FUEN the participants status in the Euro Europe and since 1995 the Consultative status at the United Nations.
Organization
The Bureau of FUEN currently consists of representatives of minorities from six different countries - including one representative of Romansh in Switzerland of South Tyrol in Italy, the Croats in Austria, the Germans in Denmark (the President Hans Heinrich Hansen), the Cornwaliser in Great Britain, the Sorbs and the Danes in Germany. The Bureau shall be elected democratically.
The General Secretariat of the FUEN has its headquarters in Flensburg. Since 2008, the German from Denmark, Jan Diedrichsen, director of FUEN.
Objectives and Activities
FUEN aims to preserve and promote national identity, language, culture and history of national minorities. It advocates a neighborly, peaceful coexistence between majority and minority of a state or region, and disclaims any violent separatism and border offset projects.
It takes the view that a peaceful development of Europe regard for the legitimate interests of national minorities and ethnic groups belongs to preserve their ancestral identity and aid in the preservation of their traditional culture and aims in this regard in particular to the European parliaments, governments and institutions as from interlocutor.
1967 laid the FUEN principles for a European people group right that they revised over the years and expanded. These principles she developed a draft convention for the basic rights of ethnic groups in Europe further and brought them from 1991 to the OSCE, the United Nations, the Euro Europe and the European Parliament a.
FUEN supports the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and hoped for the early ratification and implementation by all Member States of the Council of Europe.
The activities of the FUEN beyond include, among others the organization of an annual conference with representatives of European minorities and other meetings, symposia and events, the adoption of opinions and resolutions, publication of press releases, fact - finding missions (visits of national minorities to explore their position ). She is also editor of the journal Europe Ethnica.
Noting that there is still no consensus on a binding definition of a national minority in politics and in science, FUEN In 2006, their definitions, principles, requirements and recommendations in the form of a charter, the Charter of the autochthonous national minorities in Europe, along with the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN ), signed and published.
Financing
FUEN is financed by contributions from its members and government institutions such as Austria, Carinthia, the German -speaking community in Belgium, Switzerland, Canton of Grisons, Denmark, Schleswig- Holstein, the federal state of Brandenburg, Saxony, the Trentino -Alto Adige Autonomous Region, Autonomous Province of South Tyrol, the Netherlands, Friesland Province and the Federal Republic of Germany. It also receives funding from the Hermann- Niermann Foundation