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Lorient hosts the 7th edition of Liet International IX. Open University of Vojvodina 1-4 of July 2010, Kishegyes /Mali Iđo�, SERBIA Summer tour RML2future � come along! RML2future meeting in Bautzen Dr. Valentin Inzko new elected chairman of the Council of Carinthian Slovenes YEN Resolutions of the Working Group on Politics Young representatives of Russia's ethnic groups introduced themselves in the Council of Europe Minutes of the I. Boardmeeting YLC in Carinthia Youth of European Nationalities grieves for Dr. Silvius Magnago
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YEN 12.-18. September 2010 : Youth Leader Seminar 2010, K�rnten

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News


• Lorient hosts the 7th edition of Liet International Call for new songs in European minority languages • IX. Open University of Vojvodina 1-4 of July 2010, Kishegyes /Mali Iđo�, SERBIA The IX. Open University of Vojvodina, just like the previous eight, wishes to be one of the main meeting points and intellectual workshops for young Hungarians living in Vojvodina. It is a very important and the biggest annual event for VIF�, where young people can join to our NGO. • Summer tour RML2future � come along! With the slogan 'It�s never too late...monolingualism is easy to cure� a group of YEN people will travel through Europe this summer to promote multilingualism and do research about language promotion in minority regions. The summer tour will be held in the framework of the network RML2future, the network for multilingualism and linguistic diversity in Europe.(www.rml2future.eu) • RML2future meeting in Bautzen From the 18th till the 20th of june, YEN vice-president Lidia Jakus and the YEN contact person for the RML2future network Hester Knol had a meeting about the upcoming projects of the network in Bautzen, Germany. Matteo Feruglio of the YEN office and Kristen Schumacher also attended the meeting. • Dr. Valentin Inzko new elected chairman of the Council of Carinthian Slovenes Dr. Valentin Inzko, an internationally respected diplomat, was elected last Sunday as the new chairman of the Council of the Carinthian Slovenes. The Youth of European Nationalities is very pleased with the acquisition of this, for the Slovenian minority in Carinthia, very important office by Dr. Valentin Inzko. "Dr. Valentin Inzko fulfils all requirements to take further steps in the long-standing problems of Carinthia, such as the place-name sign controversy. �We, the Youth of European Nationalities, wish Dr. Inzko and the Council of the Carinthian Slovenes every success and we hope for a good cooperation,� was the reaction of YEN-President Sebastian Seehauser towards the election. Dr. Valentin Inzko will be the patron of this year's Youth Leader Seminar in Carinthia. Photo: Wikipedia • YEN Resolutions of the Working Group on Politics The working group on politics elaborated at the Youth Leader Committee Meeting in Carinthia three resolutions. They are regarding the current situation of minority protection in Europe, the Polish minority in Belarus and the new minority law in Sweden. • Young representatives of Russia's ethnic groups introduced themselves in the Council of Europe From the 24th to the 30th of April 2010, the exhibition �Young multinational Russia� took place in the course of the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, the very heart of Europe. It was organized by the National Council of the Youth and Children Associations of Russia, the Foundation for the Development of the International Cooperation in collaboration with the Directorate of Youth and Sport of the Council of Europe supported by the Ministry of Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy of the Russian Federation, the Federal Youth Affairs Agency, the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, and the delegation of the Russian Federation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. • Minutes of the I. Boardmeeting The first board meeting was held in Ljouwert/Leeuwarden in the Netherlands from 30.04-01.05.2010. Here you can find the minutes of the meeting. • YLC in Carinthia From the 20th to the 23rd of May YEN met for the 8th Youth Leader Committee in �entjan� / St. Johann in southern K�rnten / Koro�ka / Carinthia. For the second time the YLC was held completely as an independent seminar, means not as a part of another YEN event. • Youth of European Nationalities grieves for Dr. Silvius Magnago The Youth of European Nationalities(YEN) grieves with South Tyrol for their former governor Dr. Silvius Magnago. • FUEN congress in Ljubljana From the 12th till the 15 of May the annual congress of the Federal Unon of European Nationalities took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The President of the Youth of European Nationalities Sebastian Seehauser participated to the conference as a board member of FUEN. • Teambuilding in Leeuwarden Last weekend (29th of April � 02nd of May) the new and old board of YEN met together with the office in Leeuwarden in Frysl�n, Netherlands. Reason for this was the team building of the new board. • Full Member of the European Youth Forum This weekend (21.-24.04.2010) the Council of Members (COMEM) of the European Youth Forum took place in Brussels, Belgium. Even though a chaotic week due to the Icelandic volcano-ash the YEN delegation, containing of Sebastian Seehauser, Momme Nommensen and Igor Guizzardi, managed to arrive more or less on time for the COMEM. • www.yeni.org online again Who in the last two weeks tried to visit the homepage of YEN unfortunately received an error-message. The reason was a problem with the domain-name, which also made that our mail-addresses were no longer working anymore. We apologize for this disorder, and are glad that we solved the problem and can again inform you about our activities and plans. If in the last weeks you did not receive an answer from us, we kindly ask to contact us once again. • New board elected At the Easter Seminar in Ohrid also the General Assembly of the Youth of European Nationalities took place. This year five positions were up for election: YEN needed a new president, a new vice-president for finances and three new convenors. YEN is very happy that there are each time again new young and engaged people who want to develop the organisation further. As a result the old board under president Hester Knol (Westfrisian) was happy to give her tasks over to the new board under president Sebastian Seehauser (South Tyrolean). • Easter Seminar �Living minorities � models of diversity� in Ohrid concluded In the week before Easter more than 100 young representatives from minorities all over Europe came to Ohrid in order to exchange ideas, learn from and with each other and to get to know the situation of the southern Balkans. After a long trip for most of the participants, the seminar started with an official opening on Sunday 28 March with interesting speeches by important guests and with music and dance groups from Macedonia and Greece. In total about 300 people were at the official opening, because this event was also connected to a meeting of the Vlachs from the region. • Youth Leader Committee in Buda�rs For a very special reason around 25 YEN-people were gathering from the 11th to the 14thof February in Buda�rs near Budapest in Hungary: The first �stand-alone� Youth LeaderCommittee meeting (YLC) of the Youth of European Nationalities took place, organized by the GJU / Gemeinschaft Junger Ungarndeutscher. • Language diversity � without leaving the small ones behind Language network RML2future meets for regional conference in Eupen, Belgium • The board�s first meeting in 2010 � Audit in Flensburg - New and old faces in the Office � YEN in Sankelmark In the weekend the first meeting in 2010 of the board took place in Flensburg, combined with the audit. • Easter Seminar 2010 - �Living Minorities - Models of Diversity� The Easter Seminar 2010 is approaching and the preparations are already in progress. The seminar will be organised by the Vlach Youth Council of Macedonia and Youth of European Nationalities. It will take place in the beautiful South West part of the Republic of Macedonia in Ohrid on 27th March - 2nd April 2010. • Youth Leader Committee in Buda�rs/Wudersch From the 11th till the 14th of February will the working groups of YEN meet in Buda�rs/Wudersch in Hungary and work on their open projects and the development of YEN. The special characteristic of this particular - meanwhile sixth - Youth Leader Committee meeting is that it is organised independently and not in connection with a seminar or seminar preparation. • Board meeting 04.12.2009 till 06.12.2009, Flensburg / Germany • European Bureau of Lesser Used Languages: Partnership for Diversity Forum 2009 European Bureau of Lesser Used Languages: Partnership for Diversity Forum 2009 Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, 30 October 2009 • Mercator Network Conference Mercator Network Conference: Developments in the curriculum of language teaching and learning, at primary school level and in secondary education Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, 17-18 September 2009 • European Youth Forum � COMEM On Friday the 13th and Saturday the 14th of November, the Council of Members (COMEM) of the European Youth Forum (YFJ) took place in Torino, Italy. Hester Knol and Igor Guizzardi participated on behalf of YEN. • Liet International back to Frysl�n The sixth edition of song contest Liet International will be held on Saturday 31 october. After two editions in the Swedish Lapland in 2006 and 2008 the festival once again will be held in city theatre De Harmonie in Leeuwarden. • Klaar Kiming - YLS 2009 Klaar Kiming � Clear Horizon, was the topic of this year�s Youth Leader Seminar of the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN). Together with the Frisian youth organisation R�kefloose, YEN organised this year�s working seminar on the island of F�hr/Feer. From the 13th till the 18th of October the member organisations dealt intensively with the topic �Minorities and the Challenges of Change�; the consequences of climate change and its cultural effects on small language communities in different European regions. They obviously felt quite well in the beautiful landscape of the island of F�hr/Feer. • Surf-Exchange 2009 From 31 July until 2 August organized junge SPitzen the first Surf-Exchange in the history of the European national and autochthonous minorities. There were around 30 participants from GiuRu, KSP, HAK, CTArm, R�kefloose, SdU and some from junge SPitzen. They all met under the slogan �Surfing Europe 2009� in the small village called Schelde in Nordschleswig/Denmark. The daily surfing was the highlight of the exchange, however the cultural exchange was also one of the main activities. • Vacancy The Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) looks for new employees for its Secretariat/Office, who can start from 1 January 2010. Join the Office of YEN The Youth of European Nationalities is seeking for new active employees for the office. The position for the secretary general will be vacant from January 2010. The position as secretary general is a full-time position that can be divided in part-time positions and be managed by various employees. The persons applying should be somebody who has an active knowledge about minorities and their interests. Experience in organizing and financing projects should be necessary. Flexibility in travelling and working odd hours, as e.g. weekends, is required. YEN would support candidates from its own member organisations. • Klaar Kiming 2009 The Youth Leader Seminar 2009 is approaching. The north Frisian youth organisation R�kefloose e.V. organises together with YEN the upcoming seminar taking place from the 13th till the 18th of October on the North Sea island of F�hr. Around 60 young people from all over Europe will under the theme �Klaar kiming � Minorities and the Challenges of Change� discuss the new challenges for minorities as e.g. climate change. More informations -Website about the seminar • The Days of the Arm�n Culture 2009 - Bells tolled in celebration of this holiday! August 28th-30th 2009, Constanta and Stejaru (Eschibaba), Tulcea district � over 2500 Arm�ns have enthusiastically participated at the activities held during the VI-th edition of �The Days of the Arm�n Culture� organized by the Arm�n Community from Romania. Every year, the manifestation has gained an impressive development, expanding the array of cultural activities, in order to highlight and consolidate the Arm�n cultural values. • Study Session on �old� and �new� minorities a success In cooperation with the Council of Europe, the Working Group on Politics of the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) organised a study session on the subject of �old� and �new� minorities. The aim was to explore the differences and similarities between autochthonous, national minorities and the new minorities and to elaborate a recommendation on the basis of which YEN can continue its decision building process. • YEN study session on old and new minorities Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) organises a seminar from 24-30 August 2009 on the subject of �old and new minorities� in the European Youth Centre of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. The seminar, which is supported by the Council of Europe, will bring together 25 young Europeans, who will deal with the situation and background for the existence of minorities in Europe. By finding out about different concepts of �minority�, �old and new� and with focus on migration and integration, the similarities and differences between traditional and new minorities will be explored. • Study Visit SiiN � Russian minority in Estonia Igor Guizzardi, commissioner for politics, and Lidia Jakus, member of WG for Enlargement, visited the minority organization SiiN in Tallinn, Estonia (Russian Minority). The short Study Visit is a part of the application process and lasted from the 11th (Tuesday) till the 13th (Thursday) of August. • Exchange Feanw�lden/Frysl�n 2009 From 26 July until 2 August member organisation FYK organised an exchange in Frysl�n, the Netherlands. During this week minorities from 9 organisations came together in Feanw�lden. Here we came into contact with each other in an informal way, we exchanged ideas about the theme, we did some sports, drank some regional drinks, did some karaoke-singing and many other activities. • Kristina Kostova 1977-2009 We just were informed that this morning, 6 July, Kristina Kostova died in a tragic car accident. • Voices of Europe 2009 From 1 to 7 June young singers from European minorities came together in Jarplund/Flensburg in Germany. In the hands of conductor Peter Shannon the choir developed an intercultural repertoire of songs from the minorities that participated and some international songs as well. • YEN Study Session: �old� and �new� minorities in Europe Extended Deadline 20 July 2009 � working languages now English AND German What do �old� and �new� minorities have in common, where do they have the same interests, what are the differences? If you want to find an answer to these and similar questions then you should participate in the Study Session YEN organises in Strasbourg from 24-30 August. The Working Group on Politics in YEN organises this meeting together with the European Youth Centre of the Council of Europe. You will have the opportunity to exchange views with other young people from �new� and �old� minorities and to widen you perspective with the help of experts and in dialogue with the other participants. • Aromanian National Day in Bucharest Delegates from the subsidiaries of The Arm�n Community from Romania went to Bucharest on 23rd of May 2009 to celebrate �The Arm�ns� National Day� under the slogan �Enough! Respect our wish!�. People came from all over Romania to celebrate and also to express their support for The Arm�n Community aims. • YEN-seminar candidate for the European Charlemagne Prize On 19 May in Aachen the European Charlemagne Youth Prize will be awarded, and the YEN seminar �The more I see you � the surplus value of minorities� has been nominated. The seminar took place at Whitsun 2008 together with the political youth organisation of the Germans in Denmark Junge SPitzen in Gravenstein / Gr�sten, Denmark. As the national winner of Denmark it is one of 27 selected European youth projects. • 1-7 June 2009 : Voices of Europe 2009 Dear YENies, We would like to invite you all to VOICES OF EUROPE 2009 from the 1st to the 7th of June in South Schleswig. The choir rehearsals will take place at Jaruplund H�jskole (www.jaruplund‐hoejskole.de) and will be led by the conductor Peter Shannon, whom some of you might know already from last year. At the end of the week there will be several concerts at the annual Danish outdoor meeting in South Schleswig. This year�s topic is going to be �South Schleswig and National European Minorities�. We will present the YEN and the organisations in a �European Village� at this outdoor meeting. • European Youth Forum � COMEM During the second weekend of May the Council of Members Meeting (COMEM) of the European Youth Forum took place in Brussels. Hester Knol, President of YEN, and Igor Guizzardi, Commissioner for Politics of YEN, have been present during the whole duration of the meeting. YEN is looking forward to become full member of these unique and huge forum in November during the next COMEM. • A new era of EU youth policies The European Commission has adopted a new EU strategy for youth policy for the coming decade. Entitled "Youth � Investing and Empowering", the new strategy acknowledges the fact that (1) young people are one of the most vulnerable groups in society, especially in the current economic and financial crisis, and (2) in our ageing society, young people are a precious resource. The new strategy is cross-sectoral, with both short and long-term actions, which involve key policy areas that affect Europe's young people, particularly youth education, employment, creativity and entrepreneurship, social inclusion, health and sport, civic participation, and volunteering. The new strategy also emphasises the importance of youth work and defines reinforced measures for a better implementation of youth policies at the EU level. • News from the Easter Seminar New board At the General Assembly on 8 April the elections for a new board took place. In total three positions stood open for elections: Andrea Klukn�vska was reelected as Commissioner for Enlargement. The new vice-president is Momme Nommensen (North-Frisian, R�kefloose). And the Youth Leader Committee, the assembly of all the Working Groups together, elected Daniel Wutti as their chair into the board. We thank Jens-Christian Beuke and Dajana Horvat for their engagement during the last year(s). Furthermore Jens Boddum was re-elected as auditor and Daniel Heged�s (IKeJA-KDJ) was elected as representative of YEN in the European Dialogue Forum. We thank Christiana Walde for her work in the European Dialogue Forum last year. • 25 Years of minority youth for Europe � YEN celebrates its anniversary Once a year, in the week before Easter, about 150 young people from all over Europe come together. They have one thing in common � they belong to a European minority. Therefore also last week young people from many different regions of Europe gathered for the traditional Easter Seminar of the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) in Modra in the Slovak Republic. But in this year something special was celebrated. A quarter of a century ago namely 11 organisations founded YEN on the Knivsberg in Denmark and therefore YEN celebrated the 25th jubilee in Modra. • Call for new songs for the 6th edition of minority language song contest Liet International in Ljouwert, The Netherlands On Saturday October the 31st 2009 the Frisian capital of Ljouwert (Dutch: Leeuwarden) will host the sixth edition of the European minority language song contest Liet International, the one and only songcontest for singers and bands who sing in a European minority language. The organisation therefore calles upon bands, singers and cultural organisations throughout Europe to submit new songs in minority languages for the sixth edition of our songcontest. The song contest will consist of 10 to 11 singers or bands who represent European regions where a minority language is being spoken and sung. The song contest will take place in city theatre De Harmonie, one of the largest theatres of the Netherlands. Bands or artists are invited to send in newly composed music and lyrics in any of the lesser used, regional or minority languages in Europe until the 1st of May 2009. The organisation of Liet Lavlut will announce the selection of the songs for the final in June. • Study Visit Albania In the weekend of 27 February until 1 March 2009 YEN visited the Vlach Youth Council of Albania (VYCA). This young organisation applied to become member of YEN at the General Assembly of YEN in 2009 and the task of the YEN delegation was to find out more about the Vlachs, the country of Albania and about VYCA. • S�dtiroler Jugendring organised discussion evening: Bombing years � youth in dialogue with witnesses from that time Lately the S�dtiroler Jugendring (SJR) organised an discussion evening with the witnesses of the bombing years in South Tyrol and discussed about this period that has such far reaching effects. The witnesses from that time were activist and former member of the liberation committee Sepp Innerhofer and lawyer Sandro Canestrini, who defended the South Tyrolean activists before court in Trento and Milano. • DATE 03-10 April 2009 The main focus of the Easter Seminar will be on the 25 year jubilee of YEN. You therefore should already arrive on Friday 3 April 2009 in the evening. The departure will be �as usual- on Good Friday, 10 April 2009. • Easter seminar 2009 We invite all member organisations to our jubilee-Easter Seminar from 3 to 10 April 2009 in Modra-Bratislava. The seminar will be organised by YEN together with the youth organisation of the Carpathian Germans in Slovakia, IKEJA. • Travel information Dear friends, dear members In this section you can find informations for the Easter seminar 2009 in Bratislava/Modra in Slovakia. We recommend to consider arrival by airplane to Vienna and then by shuttle to Bratislava. From Bratislava there is a bus to Modra-Harmonia • Jubilee 25years YEN 2009 25 years of YEN � Jubilee celebration 2009 On the occasion of the jubilee on Saturday 4 April 2009 the celebrations for the 25th anniversary of YEN will take place in Časta-Papirnička, not far from Bratislava. The celebration will take place under patronage of the president of the National Council of the Slovak Republic, Mr. Pavol Pa�ka. • Youth Leader Committee Last weekend our Youth Leader Committee Meeting of YEN took place in Modra-Bratislava. We thank Andrea Kluknavska and the team of IKEJA very much for organising this meeting. The board of YEN also visited the accommodations for the Easter Seminar 2009 and for the jubilee celebration of YEN and agreed that these locations are great. The preparation for the jubilee is running on full speed. Therefore we would like to officially invite all member organisations to Modra-Bratislava from 3 to 10 April 2009. • Training course �WAW!: What we are doing?!� in Vojvodina � Serbia Between the 10th and 17th of January the successful Trainingcourse �WAW!: What we are doing?!� took place in Feketics in Vojvodina � Serbia. Together with the trainers (Oscar K�nya from Serbien and Mara �rvai from Hungary) and VIFO, all the participants from the Netherlands, Macedonia, Austria, Serbia and Hungary were able to experience more about the differences and similarities of youth work in different countries. At the same time they could increase their knowledge and understanding about youth work in relation to the Youth in Action Programme and Youthpass. • HAPPY NEW YEAR! The board and office of YEN wish you a very happy 2009. Let us all strive for a fruitful and successful year! We are looking forward to the next events where young people of minorities all over Europe can meet. We congratulate YEN with its 25th anniversary year in 2009! • YEN @ General Assembly of the European Youth Forum Probably the longest General Assembly of a youth organisation possible is that of the European Youth Forum (YFJ). For three days, from 13 to 15 November, 200 youth delegates met to decide on what the work of the Youth Forum should be concentrated for the coming two years, and to elect a new president, his vice-presidents and eight �Bureau�-members. • European Minority Film Festival in Husum From 13-15 November 2008 the second European Minority Film Festival is organised by Friisk Foriining under leadership of Gary Funck. YEN and its president Hester Knol wish that the festival will attract many visitors and hopes for a few exciting festival-days. • "Smoking kills" in Frisian The warning �Smoking kills� could not be found in Frisian on packages of cigarettes or cigars. That is why designer Rony Halma decided to develop four Frisian stickers, which can be obtained for free in the form of free cards in pubs all over Frysl�n. The total number of cards made is 20.000. The texts are not as dull as those in other languages: the text above says: �with a kiss from the ash-tray�. • Liet International up north again! This years Liet International, also called Liet Lavlut, took place in Lule�. This Swedish city is located in the north of the country, close to the Finnish border and on the shore of the Gulf of Bothnia. In the city life about 45.500 inhabitants, in the whole municipality this are 73.300, one of the biggest in the north of Sweden. Close by is the region Tornedalen where the minority language Me�nkieli is spoken, a Finno-Ugric language with between 40.000-70.000 speakers and since the year 2000 one of the official minority languages in Sweden. • Conference 10th anniversary Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities On the occasion of the 10 years anniversary of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities on 9 and 10 October a conference took place in Strasbourg under the theme �Enhancing the impact of the Framework Convention: Past Experience, Present Achievements and Future Challenges�. • First European Dialogue Forum meeting in Kehl Kehl, Germany, 8 and 9 October 2008 - In preparation of the constitutive session of the new European Dialogue Forum of Traditional National Minorities, Constitutional Regions and Regional Languages representatives of FUEN and YEN had a meeting in Strasbourg/Kehl on the 8th and 9th of October. • Your future, your say! Tell politicians what young Europeans need! • Simulation/Role-play �Living Diversity� Do you want to be a member of the European Parliament? Want to have to sit in the Committee of Experts of the Council of Europe? Or do you want to find out how minorities can advocate their cause on the European political level? The new simulation �Living Diversity � participation of autochthonous, national minorities on the European level� offers the opportunity to experience how minority politics works on the European level. • OSCE Bolzano/Bozen Recommendations on National Minorities in Inter-State Relations BOLZANO/BOZEN, Italy, 2 October 2008 - The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Knut Vollebaek, launched a set of recommendations on national minorities in inter-State relations today in the capital of Italy's bilingual Bolzano/Bozen province. • Frisian in the Dutch constitution On the 26th of September �the European Day of Languages- the Youth of European Nationalities had its Central Committee meeting (CC). The CC unanimously adopted a resolution on the subject of the inclusion of Frisian in the Dutch constitution. • Multilingualism in Opole/Oppeln With a happening on the occasion of the European Day of Languages in front of the town hall of Opole the seminar Keine Grenzen � No borders was concluded this weekend. *�For minorities each day is a day of languages�, Hester Knol said, referring to the minority languages and their situation. Hester Knol is the current president of YEN and comes from West-Friesland in the Netherlands. • Opole � Turawa 2008: Seminar for the autochthonous, national minorities From 23-28 September 2008 a seminar for young people belonging to autochthonous national minorities will take place in Silesia. The seminar is co-organised by Bund der Jugend der Deutschen Minderheit in Polen (the German youth in Poland). • You Are Not Alone (YANA) Exchange, Veliki Bori�tof, Austria From 1-8 August in Veliki Bori�tof, Burgenland, Austria, the YANA exchange between youngsters of 8 different minorities from 7 European states took place. The participants had a wonderful week with sunshine and a mixture of culture, politics, exchange of experiences and regional characteristics. • Report of the Working Groups According to the Rules of Procedure 2008-2009 the different Working Groups that were established at the Whitsun Seminar 2008 in Gravenstein - Politics - Enlargement - Communication have the goal to carry out content-related work for YEN while training its participants and to elaborate strategies and plans, which can be implemented by the presidium. After the election of its members at the latest General Assembly the first working meetings took place. • YANA � You Are Not Alone � exchange From 1 to 8 September an exchange in Burgenland, Austria will bring together a group of young people from 8 minorities of 7 different countries in Europe. They will spend the week with a mixture of culture, politics, exchange of experiences and regional characteristics. Amongst other things they will focus on the role of tourism as catalyst for rural areas in Europe, they will prepare a discussion with regional politicians and they will make a bicycle tour. • Youth Leader Seminar 2008 The Youth Leader Seminar 2008 is approaching and will take place as you know from 23-28 September in the surroundings of Opole* • Voices of Europe The Vocies of Europe in Bautzen / Budy�in has started. The participants rehears in a professionel way under the conductor Peter Shannon. • Liet Lavlut Cultural Festival in Lule�, Sweden The fifth edition of Liet-Lavlut, the song-contest for Europe�s regional and minority languages, will be held this year in the House of Culture (Kulturens hus) in Lule� on 18 October. During the years since 2002 the event has rapidly gained in popularity and is attracting more and more performers from all over Europe. It has this year developed into a cultural festival featuring a full programme of events running from 16�18 October. A festival which shows the cultural and linguistic diversity in the Arctic regions and Europe. • Teambuilding Vienna Last weekend, from 13-15 June, the new board that was elected in Gravenstein, Denmark, went for teambuilding to Vienna. Apart from turning a group of motivated individuals into a team, the weekend was also dedicated to transferring the tasks from the old to the new board. • YEN enters into multiannual partnership agreement with the European Union As a European youth organisation the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) has been selected as one of the �bodies active at European level in the field of youth� that fulfil all the criteria for a framework partnership agreement with the European Commission. With the partnership a three year lasting funding relationship is established where the EU will be funding YEN because of the general objectives it shares with the Youth of European Nationalities. • Respect for minority language rights key to inter-ethnic peace, says OSCE Minorities Commissioner OSLO, 18 June 2008 - The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Knut Vollebaek, urged OSCE participating States today to ensure protection of the language rights of national minorities as a necessary precondition for peace and stability. • N�s �r - new song competition in Celtic and Scots Languages. This weekend, on 21 June 2008 the first regional song competition for Celtic and Scots languages will take place in the Eden Court Theatre in Inverness, Scotland. • Youth Conference on Minority Rights In May the Union of Hungarian Youth Organisations of Romania (MISZSZ) organised in cooperation with the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) a youth conference on minority rights in Temesv�r/Timisoara. From 14-18 May participants from Romania, Hungary, Serbia and other countries of Europe attended a programme that was focused on the minority situation in Romania, and that addressed a minority context that is typical for many central European countries today. • YEN at the EUROPEADA 2008 in Graub�nden/Switzerland With a lot of interest the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) was represented at the football championship for minorities, the Europeada 2008. The Europeada was staged in Graub�nden, Switzerland, was organized by FUEN, Lia Rumantscha and other partners and took place from 31 May until 7 June 2008. Seventeen teams from all over Europe played for the desired title of European champion. The little final, the play for the third place, was contested between the Danes from Germany (D) and the Roma from Hungary (H). The Roma from Hungary were able to win the third place with a clear 9:0 victory. The final went on between the Croats from Serbia (SRB) against the South Tyroleans (German and Ladinians) (I). After a thrilling and emotional, exciting match also the South Tyroleans were able to take the championship with a tight, but deserved victory of 1:0. The Youth of European Nationalities would like to congratulate the new European champion. • Aromanian National Day Over 1500 delegates of The Arm�n Community from Romania (out of over 6500 members) went to Bucharest on 23rd of May to celebrate �The Arm�ns� National Day� under the slogan �Dats cali!�. People came from all over Romania to celebrate and also to express their support for Arm�n language: Bucharest, Constanta, Tulcea, Slobozia, Calarasi, Timisoara. • Whitsun Seminar - afterwards Dear member organisations of YEN Dear participants of the Whitsun Seminar 2008 in Gravenstein, Denmark! The best Whitsun Seminar of YEN has become history two weeks ago, so it is about time to remind you of this beautiful period in Gravenstein with a small revue. • FUEN Congress in P�cs � YEN publishes daily congress-newspaper The 2008 congress of FUEN was dedicated to the subject of media. This means that during the days in Pecs, special emphasis was given to media, media institutions etcetera. As second part of the series of 13 fundamental rights, a new fundamental right to media was worked out by the experts from Mercator Media from Wales. We, the Youth of European Nationalities, thought that we should not only watch and speak about media. It is much better to report during the congress and show what media is really about. Therefore we prepared this newspaper for the participants of the FUEN congress - our Daily Diversity! � with interesting stories and coverage about what happened during the FUEN-congress. Enjoy reading! • Seminar movie from our friends from Brittany • Bye-bye! The old members of the presidium: president Aleksander Studen-Kirchner (Slovenian from Austria), vice-president Christiana Walde (Sorbian from Germany), treasurer Katalin Seb�k (German from Hungary) and secretary Arkadiusz Luba (German from Poland, was not present) were said goodbye by the General Assembly with a standing ovation. On the picture together with the vice-president Jens-Christian Beuke and the office of YEN Susann Schenk, Judith Walde and Frank de Boer. • impressions Herzlichen Dank f�r ein tolles Pfingstseminar an die jungen SPitzen! Great thanks for a great Whitsun Seminar to the junge SPitzen! • NEW BOARD OF YEN As the new president Frisian Hester Knol was elected. The other presidium members are Jo�e Jeraj (Carinthian Slovene from Austria) as treasurer, Dajana Horvat (Hungarian from Serbia) as Chair of the Youth Leader Committee Jens-Christian Beuke (Nordschleswiger) as Vize-President Benjamin Roszenich (Burgendland Croat from Austria) as vice-president and Commissioner for Communication, Andrea Kluknavska (German from Slovakia) as secretary and Commissioner for Enlargement, Igor Guizzardi (German from South Tyrol) as Commissioner for Politics Good luck! • YEN Whitsun Seminar a great success PRESS RELEASE With huge success the largest European minority youth organisation, the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) carried through its Whitsun Seminar 2008 in the Danish town of Gravenstein/Gr�sten from 7-12 May. The hosts of the seminar with over 120 participants from all over Europe were Junge SPitzen and DJN � Deutscher Jugendverband f�r Nordschleswig. Both organisations represent the German minority from south Denmark in YEN. • European Dialogue Forum Minorities signed Dialogue Forum in the European Parliament Intergroup and FUEN/YEN formalize cooperation • Study-Visit �Vlach Youth Council� � Macedonia In carrying through a short but intense visit to the Vlach youth council on Macedonia the board, represented by president Aleksander Studen-Kirchner and treasurer Katalin Seb�k followed an old rule of YEN that says how to act in the case of an application for membership. The real drive however was of course keen interest and wished enlargement of YEN members, which still is focused on the three geographical areas of the Balkans, the Baltic States and Western Europe. • The surplus value of minorities - Whitsun Seminar 2008 �The more I see you � surplus value of minorities� / Whitsun seminar of the Youth of European Nationalities is the title of an international youth project that is organised for the youth of the European minorities in Nordschleswig from 6 � 12 May 2008. • Youth Conference in Romania The Union of Hungarian Youth Organizations from Romania (UHYOR -MISZSZ) and partner, the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN), are together organizing a conference on minority rights, to be held between the 14th and the 18th of May in the city of Temesv�r/Timisoara, Romania. • OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities to answer questions from the public THE HAGUE, 5 March 2008 - The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Knut Vollebaek, launched today a new website feature, "Ask the High Commissioner," aimed at explaining the work of the office, which identifies and seeks early resolution of ethnic tensions that might endanger peace. • Call for songs for the 5th edition of minority language song contest Liet-Lavlut in Lule�, Sweden On Saturday October the 18th 2008 Lule� municipality will host the fifth edition of the European song contest Liet-Lavlut 2008, the one and only song contest for singers and bands who sing in a European minority language. The organisation therefore calls upon bands, singers and cultural organisations throughout Europe to submit new songs in minority languages for the fifth edition of our song contest. The song contest will consist of 10 to 12 singers or bands who represent European regions where a minority language is being spoken and sung. The song contest will take place in the brand new Kulturens Hus, the big concert hall in Lule�. • Surplus value of the minorities - Seminar of the European minorities at Whitsun in Nordschleswig, Denmark Preparation meeting on 25 January 2008 together with the board of YEN in the Flensborghus • International soccer tournament of the Gemeinschaft Junger Ungarndeutscher International soccer tournament of the Gemeinschaft Junger Ungarndeutscher (young Germans in Hungary) under the patronage of the ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany Mr. Hans Peter Schiff 07-10/02/2008; Venue: Werischwar Under the patronage of the ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Hans Peter Schiff, between 7 and 10 February 2008 the sixteenth edition of the traditional soccer-tournament of GJU � Gemeinschaft Junger Ungarndeutscher will take place, this year in Werischwar. The tournament, which is organised each year, will this time also include teams from the Burgenland Croats, the Slovenes from Carinthia and Carpathian-Germans and therefore change into an international contest. • Whitsun Seminar of the Youth of European Nationalities Under the motto � the more I see you � the surplus value of minorities� the youth organisation of the Germans in Nordschleswig, Denmark, organise from 6 till 12 May 2008 the largest annual meeting of the Youth of European Nationalities in organisiert die Jugendorganisation der deutschen Nordschleswiger in Grafenstein / Gr�sten, Denmark. The traditional seminar of YEN will thus not be taking place at Easter, but instead of that, at Whitsun. We therefore are glad to welcome you this year during the most beautiful spring month. We look forward to welcome more than 100 participants from the member organisations of YEN and further guests from all over Europe. • Recent developments around the Fundamental Rights Agency of the EU The Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union that started its work in the beginning of 2007, can become an important institution for the improvement of the implementation of minority rights in the European Union. In the last months discussions have been taking place on the tasks of this Agency in the coming years and there has been a consultation of the Agency in Brussels. The Youth of European Nationalities has been involved in both. • Training event European Youth Forum on strategic planning and financial sustainability From 28 November until 2 December the European Youth Forum (YFJ) organised a training event on strategic planning and financial sustainability for youth organisations in Ciolpani, Romania. Among several representatives of youth organisations from Romania, members of IFMSA, AEGEE and others, YEN was represented by Frank de Boer. • COMEM of the European Youth Forum in Brussels From 9-10 November the Council of Members (COMEM) of the European Youth Forum (YFJ) took place in which 160 young people came together from all over Europe. The delegates from the in total 95 member organisations of YFJ represent national youth councils and international non-governmental youth organisations (INGYOs). YEN was represented by Igor Guizzardi, as official Youth Forum commissioner of YEN, as well as by board members Aleksander Studen-Kirchner, Jens-Christian Beuke and Christiana Walde/Waldzic. • YEN at the Citizen's Agora in the European Parliament On 8 and 9 November 400 representatives from across Europe met at the European Parliament. They were there as part of the "Agora" platform aimed at more direct democracy and giving people a say in how the EU works. Associations, organisations and trade unions were all present for a series of workshops and debates on the future course of the Union. The need for a "human vision" in policy and projecting Europe's values of democracy and tolerance on the international stage were all stressed. • EU-Consultation on multilingualism in Europe -Participation by European minorities • The landscape mirrors the theme � the Youth Leader Seminar `07 Minorities are islands, or are they not islands? Posing this question got a geographical dimension due to the location of the seminar, which ended last Sunday. A direct comparison was made between the Frisian island of Skylge and the autochthonous, national minorities in Europe. • YLS Minorities = / ≠ Islands on Skylge, the Netherlands With the theme of the congress: �Minorities = / ≠ Islands� youth association Frysk Ynternasjonaal Kontakt (FYK) and the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) establish a link between minorities and islands. Minorities can be regarded as an archipelago of diversity made of many small islands in a larger context. They have their own language and culture, and sometimes special political and educational systems. Many minorities have developed because of their isolated position, where they kept their language alive. • Study-Visit in Romania Directly after the Organisation Development meeting in Vienna Christiana Walde, Aleksander Studen-Kirchner and Frank de Boer went for a study-visit to Romania. This study-visit was organised instead of Voices of Europe 07 by the board and CTArm � Aromanian Youth Council. • Meeting Organisation Development Vienna The meeting of the working group on organisation development in Vienna from 20-23 September was held for the formation and structuring of the working groups that had been elaborated in Tarbes and that were adopted by the General Assembly of YEN. • Exchange at the Kashubians Klub Studencki Pomorania, the Kashubian youth organisation invited six different minorities for an exchange this summer in the Kashubian region. The multilateral project took place within the framework of the European Youth in Action programme. • YEN attends Education Conference of FUEN and the YOU!MM in Flensburg Flensburg in motion. Together with the Flensburg European Minority Marathon YOU!MM, in the weekend from 31 August until 2 September 2007 an education conference of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) took place in Sydslesvig, Germany. The board of YEN came together for a board meeting. • R�kefloose elects new board On 25 August the North Frisian youth association R�kefloose had its assembly in Stedesand/ St��s�nj. First chairwoman Marie Hahn welcomed the members and presented the topics on the agenda. Apart from the annual report and the financial overview also the election of the new board were on the agenda. • Teambuilding 2007 Last weekend the newly elected board of YEN was for teambuilding in Bautzen/Budy�in. The main themes for the meeting were, apart from a professional training in which the board members were trained in management skills and knowledge of team processes, especially the annual planning for 2007/2008 and the organisation development process of YEN. • New OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Norwegian diplomat Knut Vollebaek going to succeed his Swedish colleague Rolf Ekeus as OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, who stepped down from office on 30 June. Knut Vollebaek was Foreign Minister from 1997 till 2000 and is at this moment Norway�s ambassador in Washington. Rolf Ekeus emphasized the importance of operational conflict prevention in his final speech to the OSCE's Permanent Council on 28 June, saying the key was promoting integration while respecting diversity. • Cultural Festival of the Carpathian Germans in Kesmark, Slovakia From 21 until 24 June 2007 the president of YEN, Aleksander Studen-Kirchner, visited Ke�marok/ Kesmark in Slovakia, to attend the Cultural Festival of the Carpathian Germans. He answered the invitation of the youth organisation IKEJA-KDJ to lead a writing seminar together with IKEJA-KDJ-chairwoman Andrea Kluknavska. • Invitation to the VIIth International Folklore Festival �Lu�ica- Lausitz 2007� Already for the 7th time the International Folklore Festival �Łu�ica/Lausitz� will take place in Lusatia, Saxony, Germany. Dancing and folklore groups of the Lusatian Sorbs again have invited 10 cultural groups from all over the world in order to be able to offer the audience a chequered and colourful programme. • European Youth Leader Forum 2007 DGI international is honoured to host the European Youth Leader Forum 2007 from 13-16 September in Gerlev, Denmark. The youth leader forum is directed at leaders between 20 and 30 years who are working with children or young people and aspire to becoming even better leaders. The forum is a space where youth leaders can meet colleagues from all over Europe and discuss some of the most pressing challenges they are currently facing as leaders in their organizations. The overall theme of the forum is education for all through sport and traditional games, and the programme encompasses topics that are vital for many voluntary organizations today. Through presentations by youth leadership experts, engaging discussions and exchange of experiences with the other participants, the forum will provide you with theoretical knowledge as well as practical tools to further your own professional development as a youth leader. It will also facilitate your access to a network of fellow leaders from which you can draw inspiration and qualified advice in the future. The seminar will be conducted in English. • YEN meets for board meeting in Friesland In the weekend of 16 and 17 June 2007 the board of the Youth of European Nationalities visits Leeuwarden/Ljouwert in West-Friesland for a meeting with its member organisation FryskYnternasjonaal Kontakt (FYK). The meeting takes place for the purpose of the preparing the Youth Leader Seminar on the West-Frisian island of Terschelling/Skylge this autumn. • Manifestation Arrm�n Community from Romania Over 1500 delegates of The Arm�n Community from Romania (out of over 6500 members) went to Bucharest on 23th of May to support the Arm�n language under the slogan � Arm�ns: A single desire, a single will, a single way!�(Arm�nji: Un� minduiari, un� vreari, un� cali!�). People came from all over Romania to defended their language: from Bucharest, Constanta, Tulcea, Slobozia, Calarasi and Timisoara. • Council of Members European Youth Forum in Baku From 26 till 29 April 2007 YEN board members Christiana Walde and Aleksander Studen-Kirchner attended the Council of Members, COMEM, of the European Youth Forums in Baku, Azerbaijan. The meeting, which takes place twice a year is comparable with the central committee meeting of YEN and is an important platform for decision-making for the delegates of the Youth Forum member organisations. The plenary meetings are spread over three whole days. Both administrative decisions as well as policy decisions are taken during the meetings, where YEN as candidate member can �only� affect decision with its opinion, because as a candidate member it has no voting rights. • Youth declares one�s solidarity with the Occitans in France � YEN accepts new members When circa 100 young people from 25 autochthonous and national minorities in 14 countries of Europe come together then there is discussion, party and new ideas are developed. This was at least the case for the Youth of European Nationalities, who had their traditional Easter Seminar at the Occitans in the south of France. The particular situation of the regional language communities in France was the main subject of the seminar and there was a lively discussion about the rights to maintain the language and culture in France. • Newsletter Brussels Project 2007/02 Living Diversity � The Brussels Project is a common initiative from the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) and the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN). The project has as its goal to improve the political participation of the two largest minority organisations at the European level. This has to be reached by direct contacts to the relevant decision makers, as well as by involvement in the relevant policy fields and issues. The plan is to reach in the middle term a permanent representation of the interest of minorities in Brussels. • Lengas caps�s las front�ras � YEN visits the Occitans in France Today, on the 10th of April 2007, the Easter Seminar of the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) was officially opened in Tarbes, France. 100 Young people from 25 autochthonous national minorities from 14 European countries gather at this moment in the Pyrenees, at the border of Spain and France. • Easter Seminar Lengas caps�s las front�ras Lengas caps�s las front�ras Languages beyond frontiers Langues par del� les fronti�res Sprachen �ber Grenzen hinweg SEMINARI DE PASCA / EASTER SEMINAR / S�MINAIRE DE P�QUES / OSTERSEMINAR 2007 • Newsletter Brussels Project 2007/01 Living Diversity � The Brussels Project is a common initiative from the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) and the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN). The project has as its goal to improve the political participation of the two largest minority organisations at the European level. • More than 20,000 march in B�siers for Occitan Over 20,000 people went to B�siers on Saturday to support the Occitan language under the slogan �An�m ! �c ! per la lengua Occitana !� (Let�s go ! Yes ! for the Occitan language !). People came from all over Occitania to defend their language: Auv�rnhe, Bearn, Comtat de Ni�a, Gasconha, Lengad�c, Lemosin, Proven�a, but also from the Val d�Aran, in Catalunya, where Occitan is an official language, and from the Occitan-speaking valleys in Italy. • Join the Youth Leader Seminar 2007! This autumn, the annual Youth Leader Seminar (YLS 2007) will take place in Frysl�n, The Netherlands. The seminar will be organized by FYK and will be held from the 16th until the 21st of October 2007. The theme of the seminar is: �Minorities = / ≠ Islands�: are minority cultures better off as a cultural island within the majority, or are there other ways to cherish the cultural heritage of globalizing Europe? • Minorities, snow and apr�s-ski From 28 February till 3 March the pistes of the Swiss ski-region Vuorz were as insecure as never before. Apart from the unpredictable ski-schools, the tanned ski-teachers and the cool snowboarders, also members of MOSP, HAK, Junge SPitzen and SdU were there during these four days. The reason: the first Snow(ex)change of GiuRu. • Pawk elected new board Also in Bautzen the annual General Assembly of the Sorbian youth association PAWK took place at the beginning of the year. The 24 people that were present discussed the project plan for 2007 and carried out new elections of the board. • Preparation of the Easter Seminar at the Occitans in full swing The young umbrella organisation of the Occitan youth, lo Conselh Representatiu de la Joventut d'�c (CRJOC) is in the middle of the preparation for the 2007 Easter Seminar in Tarbes, in the south of France from 7-13 April. In the beginning of February a meeting between CRJOC and the board of YEN took place in Pau (Photo from left to right: CRJOC-vice-president Marie-Christine Boivert, CRJOC-treasurer Magal� Urroz, YEN-vicepresident Christiana Walde, Frederic Nadau (local preparation team), YEN-president Aleksander Studen-Kirchner, CRJOC-vice-president Cecile Chapdeuil, Pierre Sacaze (local preparation team), YEN-project officer Frank de Boer). • 21 February - International Mother Language Day Today is International Mother Language Day, the event was launched by UNESCO in 1999 to celebrate the world�s 6,000 or so languages. This year sees various events being held in Paris with the focus being on promoting linguistic diversity and multilingual education. • Good mood during the General Assembly of the Junge SPitzen Will the fight for board positions become a tradition? These questions could be asked last Friday after the General Assembly of the Junge SPitzen. 16 Candidates were available for 15 position in the extended board of Junge SPitzen, that is where a fight for positions is unavoidable. • FYK elects new board Last Saturday 27 January the youth organisation of the Frisians in the Netherlands, Jongereinferiening Frysk Ynternasjonaal Kontakt (FYK) elected a new board. Hester Knol is the new chairwoman of the association, which this year will host YEN�s Youth Leader Seminar on the island of Skylge/Terschelling in October. Apart from the election of Hester to the position of chairwoman, three new board members were elected. • IKEJA receives KSSSD in the Haus der Begegnung in Bratislava From 12th till 14th January 2007 the new board of the Club for Slovenian Students in Vienna (KSSSD went to Bratislava to have a board meeting. Here the political position of KSSSD and the working programme for the year 2007 was worked out. The hope for positive changes due to efforts of the new Austrian government in the issue of bilingual signposting in Carinthia is already fading and therefore KSSSD decided not to consent to consensus-talks; not to ask for only part of the bilingual signposting, but to demand bilingual posting in the whole bilingual area in South-Carinthia. With this policy KSSSD want in particular to retain the historical right of the Carinthian Slovenes, written down in Article 7 of the Vienna State Treaty, and increase the awareness to claim their right without restraints. • Basques in Brussels to talk to Commission on multilingualism The Vice-Councillor for Linguistic Politicy in the Basque Goverment, Patxi Baztarrika, met the European Commission on Monday to talk about the different initiatives and actions that the Basque government is carrying out for the standardization of Basque language in all domains. • Midas Prize for Journalism in Minority Protection and Cultural Diversity in Europe The Midas Prize for Journalism in Minority Protection and Cultural Diversity in Europe was established in 2003 and is administered by the European Association of Daily Newspapers in Minority and Regional Languages (Midas). The Prize is awarded to journalists of Midas member-newspapers who have demonstrated a particular dedication to the reporting of minority protection and cultural diversity issues within the context of the European Integration process. • Toronto study shows bilingualism has protective effect in delaying onset of dementia by four years Ontario scientists have found astonishing evidence that the lifelong use of two languages can help delay the onset of dementia symptoms by four years compared to people who are monolingual. There has been much interest and growing scientific literature examining how lifestyle factors such as physical activity, education and social engagement may help build "cognitive reserve" in later years of life. • New game about European minorities prepared The Frisian organisation �Ried fan de Fryske Beweging�, which is also member in FUEN, is working on a new game about minorities in Europe. The objective of the game is the propagation and popularisation of knowledge of and contacts between linguistic minorities in Europe as stimulation of the use of the minority languages in the diverse regions of Europe. The game highlights Europe as being a multicultural continent and shows its variety as a valuable asset. • Bona Annada-Happy New Year! The Youth of European Nationalities and the Occitan Youth Council wish you a happy New Year! We will be glad to welcome you in Occit�nia for the Easter Seminar from April the 7th until 13th about: Languages beyond the frontiers! Lengas caps�s las front�ras! • Roma in the Balkans: the forgotten victims The Council of Europe, together with the European Commission, launched a television spot available to all media, during a press conference in Sarajevo on 4 December. Called ''Dosta!'' � a Romani word meaning ''enough'' � the programme is part of an awareness raising campaign for fighting against prejudices and stereotypes towards Roma. The press conference also precedes a two-day training programme to train civil servants in Sarajevo from 5-6 December to monitor and evaluate laws that will assure equal treatment of Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina. • Racism and Xenophobia in the EU - Annual Report The European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) this week presented its Annual Report 2006. The report looks at racial discrimination and racist crime data. It also includes an overview of positive initiatives. • Voices of Europe 2006 From 16-24 September the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) and Jugendring der Russlanddeutschen organised the international youth festival �Voices of Europe�; for the first time in Russia. The festival took place within the framework of the European youth campaign �All Different, All Equal�. • European Minority Film Festival Under the motto "Great films of small peoples" the Friisk Foriining (www.friiske.de) organises the EUROPEAN MINORITY FILM FESTIVAL in the Kino Center Husum from 16 till 18 November, together with the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) � the umbrella organisation for autochthonous national minorities. • YEN and FUEN present themselves in the European Parliament On Thursday, the 16th of November 2006, the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) and the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) presented their �Brussels-Project� to the Intergroup for traditional, national minorities in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. • EU-Commission is going to support language networks FUEN and YEN consider participation in upcoming call for proposal Months of speculating about what�s going to happen in the field of future support of regional and minority languages in the new program generation of the European Union is coming to an end. The EU-Commission recently invited several actors in the field to a conference on this matter in Brussels. The Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) and the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) where represented by their common representative Jan Diedrichsen. The future financial support for language networks through the EU-Commission was debated. For many years the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL) has been receiving a direct subsidy from the EU-Commission as the EU-network for regional and minority languages. In the next program generation this will not longer be the case. • Applications for MIDAS study visit and journalist prize The European Association of Daily Newspapers in Minority and Regional Languages MIDAS was formed in the year 2001 following the proposal by editors-in-chief from more than 10 language communities throughout Europe in order to coordinate their strategies and to stimulate cooperation in the areas of information exchange, printing, and marketing; to organise campaigns to promote its member publications; and to obtain support from EU institutions for minority languages and their print media. • New �Youth in Action� programme stimulates young Europeans to become involved in the community The Commission welcomes the adoption by the European Parliament, during its plenary session of 25 October, of the new �Youth in Action� programme, the latest generation of the Commission�s youth programme. It covers the period 2007 - 2013. With its budget of 885 million euros, the Youth in Action programme is simpler and more flexible than its predecessor. It will be accessible to young people aged between 15 and 28 (13-30 for some specific actions), and is also open to a wider selection of partner countries. • GiuRu-representative elected in the board of the Lia Rumantscha A great success for the GiuRu - Giuventetgna Rumantscha. Martin Cantieni, vice-president of GiuRu was elected in the board of the Rhaetian umbrella organisation Lia Rumantscha. • A forum for dialogue with national minorities at the European Parliament The chairman of the Intergroup for Traditional Minorities in the European Parliament, Mr. Csaba Tabajdi, offers the minority representatives, joined in the umbrella organisations Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) and the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) a contact forum in the European Parliament. With over 100 member organisations, FUEN and YEN are the two biggest minority umbrella organisations in Europe. • International Conference in Bozen: To be a minority is an opportunity! According to the motto � �Minorities � Law and Rights�, a European conference will take place next week from the 25th to the 27th of October in Bozen, South Tyrol / Italy and bring together about 100 minority representatives from all over Europe. • Legs fine, everything fine! Members of GJU follow the traces of their ancestors by bike. During a whole week, from 14 to 20 August, the twelve participants and three accompanists travelled the beautiful stretch between Passau and Vienna, along one of the most famous cycle ways of Europe. The objective of the tour was to show the participants an important piece of the history of their roots and their German ancestors... • UNITED COLOURS OF BALKAN � concluded successfully From 5-10 September 2006 this year�s Youth Leader Seminar took place in Palić / Vojvodina under the motto of UNITED COLOURS of the BALKANS. The seminar was organisation together with the member organisations VIFO and CroV, the youth organisations of the Hungarians and Croats in Vojvodina. The seminar was attended by 70 young people from all over Europe. The seminar dealt with the challenges and problems of the Balkans and the youth who lives there. For the coming period the subject will be pursued by YEN through the project Balkan Youth Leader. • UNITED COLOURS of the BALKANS, YEN-Youth Leader Seminar 2006 Youth Leader Seminar 5. - 10. September 2006, Palić From 5 to 10 September this year�s Youth Leader Seminar will take place o in Palić / Vojvodina under the motto UNITED COLOURS OF BALKAN. The seminar is organised by YEN together with its member organisations VIFO and CroV, the youth associations of the Hungarians and Croats in Vojvodina. More than 70 young people from all over Europe are expected to visit Serbia. During the past years the attention of the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) was aimed at the Balkans, at it diversified culture, at the situation of its minorities, and in particular at its minority youth. • Study visit in Romania to the Aromanian Community in Romania Already shortly after the Easter Seminar 2006, in which also the Aromanian youth of Romania was participating, YEN received an application for membership of the Youth of the Aromanian Community in Romania arrived. The board was very pleased about it, and therefore Aleksander Studen-Kirchner travelled to Constanţa for the annual meeting of the Aromanians from Romania from 25 till 27 August. • Multilateral Exchange Lausitz From 13 � 20 August 2006 in Lausitz, Germany for the third time the multilateral exchange between Frisians from the Netherlands, Kashubians from Poland, Germans from Hungary and Sorbs took place. Unfortunately the Slovenes from Trieste unfortunately were not there. • FUEN-board meeting in Zurich/ Switzerland On Thursday 18 August 2006 a board meeting of the Federal Union of European Nationalities took place in Z�rich. For the first time the newly elected YEN-president Aleksander Studen-Kirchner participated in the meeting. • Sternwanderung 2006 in Frysl�n From the 22nd till the 29th of July the Sternwanderung took place in Frysl�n, organized by FYK. On de 22nd of July all the participants arrived, fully packed for one very exciting week. The participants this year were from MOSP, SdU, PAWK, CAL (Catalans) and FYK. • Minorities on the move In the coming days the Junge SPitzen � a member organisation of YEN � will go on a tour to explore the European minorities. • To be part of the United colours of the Balkans Preparation meeting for the Youth Leader Seminar 2-5 June 2006, Palić During the past years the attention of the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) was aimed at the Balkans, at it diversified culture, at the situation of its minorities, and in particular at its minority youth. A milestone in these efforts will be the Youth Leader Seminar (YLS) from 5 � 10 September in Palić (Serbia). The organisations of the region, VIFO and CroV (Hungarian and Croatian youth associations in Serbia) want to show with this event that minorities on the Balkans can cooperate well �something shown also by organising the seminar together- and want to break with the usual Balkan-stereotypes. In this context conflict prevention, its methods and the issue of tolerance are the main topics of the seminar. The participants will deal with the consequences and impacts of the Balkan-wars, with the current situation of the minorities in Serbia, and mainly with that of Vojvodina. • Meeting with the Parliament and Commission: A European Parliament for minorities Shortly before the summer-recess of the European Parliament the chairman of the Intergroup for national minorities and representatives of YEN and FUEN had a meeting. Afterwards there was a talk with representatives of the European Commission. (Photo: chairman Csaba Tabajdi, Stephan Kleinschmidt and Jan Diedrichsen) • Report of Parliament demands list of endangered languages Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Bernat Joan i Mar� prepared a report on the �framework strategy for language learning and linguistic diversity� of the EU-Commission. He demands amongst other things a list of endangered languages and a language ombudsman (Photo: EU Parliament in Brussels) • ARTEDEN 2006 Cultural Sport Centre (Lonjer / TRIESTE / Italy) Arteden � the international art week, focused on the relations between minority and majority ethnic groups in Europe, will take place for the 4th year in a row. The experimental visual art workshop invites guests artists from various European countries and offers a place for creating and expressing. Arteden is also dedicated to local artists or associations that take part in the initiatives, to kids - young attenders at morning courses and last but not least, to the inhabitants of Lonjer. • All Different, All Equal kicked off As black and white balloons drifted up to the Strasbourg sky, against the backdrop of the 49 flags of the Council of Europe Members States, and to the sound of rolling drums, the European youth campaign �All Different � All Equal� was officially launched. The campaign, running from June 2006 to September 2007 is being organised by the Council of Europe, in collaboration with the European Youth Forum, is members � amongst with the Youth of European Nationalities � and the European Commission. • Intergroup in discussion with minorities The Intergroup for national minorities in the European Parliament -amongst other topics- exchanged views on the issue of new networks to support European regional and minority languages, about the possibilities for minority representatives and about the situation after the establishment of a new government in Slovakia. (Photo: the chairman of the Intergroup at the FUEN-Congress 2006 in Bautzen / Budy�in) • Partnership for Diversity Forum of EBLUL The European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages gathered in Scotland and discussed about the future of the regional and minority languages of Europe. The opportunity for new partnerships was discussed as well. • Roadmap for the future of Europe � minorities want to be involved YEN and FUEN took part in a conference about the future of Europe, in which apart from Plan D also was consulted about a roadmap for the future of Europe. At the moment both minority organisations YEN and FUEN themselves discuss about a minority roadmap 2010, which is to define the political goals of the national, autochthonous minorities on the European level. • GJU presented new board The Gemeinschaft Junger Ungarndeutscher (Association of young Germans in Hungary � GJU) presented their new board on 7 June in the House of the Germans in Hungary in Budapest. At the assembly of delegates on 20 May in P�cs, D�vid L�szl� was elected as the new president. As such he took over the lead of the organisation from Katalin Sebők, who finished a two-year term. Next to Emil Koch, Robert Guth was elected as new vice-president of GJU. He will replace Helga Kov�cs, who will however remain active for GJU as local cultural assistant for the Institut f�r Auslandsbeziehungen (Institute for Foreign Relations � ifa). • Teambuilding and handover in Sonder Felding, Denmark From June 14th to 18th the new board met for a team building seminar in Sonder Felding, Denmark. The main task for the board was to get to know each other thoroughly and lay a common base for the future work in- and outside of the board. In a calm atmosphere and with a highly motivated board some of the most important topics, like division of tasks, internal and external communication as well as continuity of existing projects and securing the core activities of the Youth of European Nationalities could be covered. A close cooperation with the member organizations and the delegates of the YEN is also of high importance. • Guidelines adopted The main theme of the FUEN Congress of this year was the subject of education. An expert committee dealt with guidelines for the Sorbian education system during the congress in Bautzen / Budysin. On the photo: (from left to right) Dr. Detlev Rein, Judith Walde and Professor W�lck. • Europe-team was defeated .... narrowly The FUEN-team put up a good show and stood up to the �professionals� from Lusatia for a long time. At the end it was 4:1 for the team from Crostwitz / Chr�sćicy: At the FUEN-Congress there was a friendly match between a Sorbian football team from Crostwitz / Chr�sćicy and a European selection from the congress. From YEN ex-president Stephan Kleinschmidt and his successor Aleksander Studen-Kirchner showed that they were able to control the midfield � already after a short time. �tefan Emrich proved himself a secure barrier before the goal, who brought the opponents a few times to the abyss of despair... Stefan Zuschke from the Sorbian youth association PAWK made the goal of the European team. • Being guest in Lusatia � Europe�s minorities adopt Charter President of YEN, Aleksander Studen-Kirchner and FUEN-president Romedi Arquint were the first to sign the common Charter of the autochthonous, national minorities during the reception of the Prime-Minister of Saxony Georg Milbradt. • Charter for the autochthonous, national minorities • Despite all in good spirits Article 7 � our right/ Člen 7 � na�a pravica: A discussion with the Fact Finding Group of the European Parliament about the topographical sign issue in Carinthia. What do filmmakers, KSSSD and YEN expect from a discussion with members of the European Parliament, who are on a Fact Finding Mission to gather facts that have remained the same during the past 30 years � that are well-known already? What does it mean when a film about a minority is victim of the same policy as the minority itself? A policy of concealing, covering up, distortion and suppression of history. �Media Law�, the Austrian public broadcasting system ORF says and it bars its own production from television. �Not unbiased enough� ORF argues, having a mind a film that can make the broadcasting station in general more impartial. The station is however afraid for real impartiality. • FUEN and YEN discuss strategy with member organisations Seven hours the minority representatives dicussed the future of minority work in Europe. From left to right Bernhard Ziesch, managing director of Domowina; Jens A. Christiansen, secretary general of SSF, Dieter K�ssner, chairman of SSF, Manfred Nissen, managing director of Friisk Foriining, Susann Schenk, secretary general of YEN, Jan Diedrichsen, commissioner of YEN and FUEN together, Heinrich Schulz, vice-president of FUEN, Judith Walde, YEN-delegate, Peter Iver Johannsen, secretary general of BDN and Hans Heinrich Hansen FUEN-vice-president and BDN-chairman and FUEN-secretary general Frank Nickelsen. On the photo Stephan Kleinschmidt is missing, former president of YEN and YEN-commissioner for European affairs. • Minorities Dailies Association meets in Nordschleswig, Denmark The European Minority Dailies Association MIDAS has a meeting in Denmark this weekend. The Youth of European Nationalities is present there as well. • Minority Conference of the EU-Commission in Brussels On 27 and 28 April 2006, a delegation of the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN), consisting of former president of YEN Stephan Kleinschmidt, project officer Frank de Boer and former treasurer Judith Walde, took part in a conference on Regional and Minority Languages in Education Systems, for which they were invited by the European Commission. Apart from the delegation of YEN, also the president of the Federal Union of European Nationalities, Romedi Arquint and the joint commissioner for the Brussels representation, Jan Diedrichsen, were there. • Universit� des Jeunes en Bretagne From 4-6 May a conference on the topic of minority rights and minority language takes place in Carhaix/Karaez (Bretagne, Franc). Under the title of "Minorit�s culturelles d'Europe: respect des droits fondamentaux et r�ponses institutionnelles" several lectures, discussions and workshops are offered, given by representatives of many minorities in Europe and their institutions. Also YEN will be present during the conference and Chatrina Josty, as representative of YEN will give a presentation about YEN and subsequently go into discussion with the participants of the workshop. The participants are all young people who are between 18 and 35 years old. More information you can find at: www.kuzul.info and soon on this page! • YEN at the European Youth Forum The Council of Members (COMEM) of the European Youth Forum (YFJ) took place from 27th to 29th of April in Prato, Italy. The YEN was represented at the COMEM by its newly elected president Aleksander Studen-Kirchner and secretary �tefan Emrich. • Conference on Regional and Minority Languages in Education Systems The Commission is organising a conference to encourage co-operation and networking on issues affecting regional and minority languages in education and training systems. YEN and FUEN will be represented by FUEN-president Romedi Arquint, Stephan Kleinschmidt and Jan Diedrichsen. • GJU - Org Team K�sz�n�m! • NEW BOARD OF YEN Aleksander Studen-Kirchner (KS��D), president Chatrina Josty (GiuRu) vicepresident Christiana Waldzic (PAWK) vicepresident �tefan Emrich (HAK), secretary Katalin Seb�k (GJU), treasurer • United in diversity Youth of the European minorities met in P�cs (F�nfkirchen) � European Capital of Culture 2010 �for the Easter Seminar 2006 Aleksander Studen-Kirchner (KS��D) new President of JEV The traditional Easter Seminar of the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) came to a conclusion on Good Friday in the southern Hungarian town of P�cs (F�nfkirchen). In the seminar, which was jointly organised by the Association of German Hungarians (GJU) and YEN, 120 young people from 26 minorities from 14 countries of Europe took part. • IGEN IGEN IGEN - YES YES YES Easter Seminar 2006 "United in diversity" succesfully concluded Aleksander Studen-Kirchner new president of YEN Thanks to GJU! Press release and report will follow! • Easter Seminar 2006 - Invitations Dear member organisations of YEN, dear friends of YEN! On behalf of the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) and the board of YEN we would like to invite you to the Easter Seminar 2006, which will take place from 8 till 14 April in P�cs/F�nfkirchen, Hungary. The title and main subject of the Easter Seminar 2006 is �Living together in diversity � Hungary as example for the coexistence of ethnic minorities�. • Easter Seminar 2006 Dear member organisations of YEN, dear YENies, dear friends! The Easter Seminar of 8 till 14 April 2006 is coming closer and GJU is working hard on the preparation. During last weekend our organisation team was enlarged with the YEN-team and we have made everything ready to have a successful seminar. • News from YEN At the first board meeting of 2006 in Flensburg the board of YEN discussed all the important topics for YEN in 2006. We hope that we can start a great YEN-year now together with you! • YEN about the bilingual sign struggle (�Ortstafelstreit�): European youth demands that minority protection is respected in Carinthia At its last board meeting in Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) criticised in clear language the situation of the Slovenian minority in Carinthia: • Minorities in discussion with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) recently had a session in Strasbourg ..... Report by Jan Diedrichsen about the Plenary Session, 23-27 January 2006. • FYK is looking for participants for its "Sternwanderung" this summer! FYK wants to organise a Sternwanderung this year in Frysl�n, the Netherlands. Like other Sternwanderungs, the emphasis is going to be on sports: we will walk, bike, but also do typical Frisian sports, like 'fierljeppe' (far-leaping), keatsen and waadrinne (wad-walking, which was also on the program last year when this event was organised by the Sydslesvigs danske Ungdomsforeninger. • European song contest Lavlut - Liet Ynternasjonaal moves to Swedish S�miland The fourth edition of the one and only European song contest for minority languages Liet International will be hosted by the city of �stersund in Swedish S�miland on the 14th of October 2006 under the name Lavlut - Liet International. The first three editions of Liet International all took place in the Frisian capital of Ljouwert. Moving the festival to the north of Europe makes sense because for the last two years Liet was won by the S�mi. The last edition of the event was won by S�mi singer Niko Valkeap�� from Kautokeino. • YEN raises level of membership in the European Youth Forum At the Council of Members meeting (COMEM) of the European Youth Forum (YFJ) this weekend YEN was accepted as candidate member with an overwhelming majority of the votes. Since 2003, when the Youth of European Nationalities became observer member, YEN has been participating in several activities, campaigns and meetings of the YFJ and member of the board (Bureau) of the Youth Forum were YEN’s guest in a number of occasions. • Miteinander (�Together�) Seminar 2005 The Miteinander seminar of this year took place this year from 29 October till 4 November in L�beck, Germany. Fifteen representatives from the German minorities from twelve countries in Central and Eastern Europe as well as Central Asia (Denmark, Lithuania, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan) discussed about several important issues. • Campaign “All Different – All Equal”, YEN at symposium in Strasbourg From the 26-29th of October YEN participated in a symposium in Strasbourg concerning the new European Youth Campaign “All Different – All Equal” for Diversity, Human Rights and Participation. This campaign will start in June 2006 and will finish in September 2007. For YEN, former board member and current commissioner for the European Youth Forum Ydwine Willemsma participated. • After the Youth Leader Seminar Rumantsch � cool! Romansh is cool! R�toromanisch ist cool! The Youth Leader Seminar “Inscunter” of the Youth of European Nationalities in Laax (Graub�nden/CH) was finished last weekend with a traditional Swiss fondue and a concert of Corin Curschellas. For five days the youth association of the Rhaeto Romansh, Giuventegna Rumantscha, was the host of the traditional autumn seminar for the European minorities ... • Rumantsch � cool! Dear GiuRu and dear YEN-actives, After a great �Inscunter� in Laax, we would like to thank you all for your active involvement and the splendid organisation of our Youth Leader Seminar 2005. A particular big �grazia fitg� to the GiuRu-team and Chatrina!!! • Youth Leader Seminar 2005 “Inscunter” From the 12th until the 16th of October the YLS 2005 will be taking place in Switzerland at the Rhaeto-Romansh minority. The meeting has the title “Inscunter”. Translated it means “encounter”. The YLS 2005 shall be dealing with different kinds of “encounters”. • Successful DanMladine 2005 HAK 'Dan Mladine’ Youth Festival 2-4 September ’05, Burgenland, Austria From 2nd to 4th September the 32nd ‘Dan Mladine’ festival took place in the village of Mjenovo/ Kroatisch Minihof in Burgenland, Austria, and was attended by several members of various YEN organisations. Organised by Hrvatski Akademski Klub (HAK) and Mlada Inicijativa Mjenovo (local youth iniciative group), there was a full programme on offer over the weekend. • The Intergroup of the European Parliament had a meeting in Strasbourg � YEN was also present Last Thursday (8 September 2005) the Intergroup on National Minorities in the European Parliament had a meeting in Strasbourg. The main topics they discussed were the aggravating conflict between the Polish minority and the state government in Byelarussia, as well as the situation of the Slovenes in Carinthia, Austria. The members of Parliament passed a declaration on the situation of the Slovenes in Carinthia. • Fifty years Frisian Manifesto “It’s about time we stop referring to ourselves as Dutch Frisians or German Frisians. We are just Frisians, period. And we happen to live in the Netherlands or in Germany.” These words were spoken last Saturday by Ingwer Nommensen, President of the Interfrisian Council, during a gathering to mark the 50th anniversary of the Frisian Manifesto in Aurich, Germany. • YEN member organisation in the YOU!MM The teams "Serbska banda" and "Team Nordschleswig" participated in the relay-race of the second European minority marathon. Five young members of minorities in each team run the distance within 03:37:40 and 04:05:42, resulting in positions 16 and 41. • Minority within the majority – international flair and regional culture Since quite some time we had been thinking about presenting the German minority in Hungary to our partner organisations in various ways. So we started the planning, coordination, discussing, etcetera. And the result of all this was a beautiful week together with our friends from the 1st till the 8th August. The workshops, discussion rounds and common activities gave the opportunity to exchange and showed our minority and its lively characteristics. Central in the week were pleasure together, the region, summer sun, music, dance and many other things. • EU-Language Agency coming closer Since 2003 a report by the European Parliament has been on the table, demanding a EU-Language Agency, also taking into account the regional and minority languages. Now – almost two years later – there is some movement. A feasibility study was prepared and the EU-Commission announced that it will come with an answer before September. Why the feasibility study was made, what is in it and what the Language Agency should contribute – you will read it here. • Sternwattwanderung in South Schleswig From 2 till 6 August a group of Rhaeto-Romansh, South Tyroleans and South Schleswigans answered the invitation of SdU to come to the North-Frisian island of Sylt for the Sternwattwanderung – a walk together through the tidal flats. • 10th International Conference on Minority Languages The 10th ICML conference took place in Trst/Trieste the first weekend of July. About 150 participants took part in it. A great number of language professors and researchers gathered in the Narodni Dom, what was once the centre of the Slovene society in Italy and then burned by the fascists in 1920. It is now the seat of the high school for translators and interpretors, just the perfect setting for a conference on languages. • Cultures in Dialogue At the final conference of Cultures in Dialogue 2005, 180 young people from 37 European countries � representing 60 majority and minority peoples � presented a resolution, which they had drafted together. • Study Visit European Youth Forum During the Cultures of Dialogue seminar Aljosa Ravnikar (CBMA – Consultative Body on Membership Applications) and Luiza Bara (Youth Forum Office) were visiting YEN for a short study visit. • GJU, SdU and IKEJA invite people for exchanges This week several member organisations of YEN meet each other for exchanges in P�cs and on the island of Sylt. • Easter Seminar-documentation is ready! Youth of European Nationalities and S�dtiroler Jugendring are satisfied with the recently issued documentation of the Easter Seminar 2005, which has just been sent to the member organisations. We thank everyone, who has contributed to the publication of this documentation. We wish you much pleasure reading it and remembering the highlights of this great seminar! • Minorities in the opening programme of the World Cup Football 2006? More than 100 people answered the invitation to come to the thematically decorated farmyard of the Delenk family in Crostwitz for the podium discussion, organised by the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) and the Sorbian youth association PAWK. The podium discussion was the highlight of the YEN-seminar “Europe of the Regions”, which took place in Lusatia / Łužica and in which participants from HAK, FYK, R�kefloose, PAWK, junge SPitzen, GiuRu and MOSP took part. • JdR Youth Forum and Festival With a Gala-concert in Krasnodar the 5th All-Russian Youth-Festival of german culture and the 6th Forum of German Youth in Russia, which was taking place from the 20th to the 27th of July, found its end. The events were supported by the association for technical cooperation (GTTS), the ministry for regional development of the Russian Federation and the administration of the region Krasnodar. • Minority secretariat in Germany staffed from July the 1st on The Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) congratulates the minority council of the four officially recognised national minorities of Germany with the establishment of a minority secretariat at the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs. At the same time YEN congratulates also North-Frisian Thede Boysen with his appointment as minority secretary. • YEN is participating in Youth Forum in Russia The Youth of European Nationalities is actively participating in the Youth Forum in Anapa, for which it was invited by the Jugendring der Russlanddeutschen (JdR, Germans in Russia). Stephan Kleinschmidt, president and Stefan Emrich, secretary of YEN will present YEN from the 21st till the 26th of June and in workshops they will speak about international law concerning minorities. Both members of the presidium will focus on the international cooperation in the minority youth field. • YEN-project presented at MIDAS conference Recently the fourth congress of the MIDAS-network took place in Bautzen/Budyšin. MIDAS is a network of minority newspapers. During the congress there was the possibility to present shortly the cooperation of the Youth of European Nationalities and the German newspaper in Denmark, “Der Nordschleswiger”, about the jubilee of of the Bonn-Copenhagen Declarations. The Otto-von-Habsburg-Price for journalism, a price of 2000 Euro that is given by MIDAS, was won by a journalist from Italy, namely by Gian Antonio Stella of the “Corriere della Sera”. The Otto-von-Habsburg-Price was handed over by the nephew of von Habsburg, Severin Meister (second from the right). Stella and Meister are flanked by Bojan Brezigar (left) and MIDAS-president Toni Ebner (right). www.midas-press.org • Fact-Finding Mission to Brussels The Youth of European Nationalities and the Federal Union of European Nationalities decided that they would together investigate the possibilities for a minority representation on the European level. For this reason first talks with members of the European Parliament took place. This is a first report of the findings, which has also been published by FUEN. • Questions about Frisian education in Dutch parliament Today the liberal members of parliament Van Baalen and Balemans asked questions to Foreign Minister Bot and Education Minister Van der Hoeven. According to the liberal party VVD, the lowering of education targets for the Frisian language violates the Charter of Regional or Minority Languages of the Council of Europe. Both representatives want to know from the ministers how they are going to implement the obligations. • Congratulations to North Friesland and South Tyrol The board of the Youth of European Nationalities congratulates the new chairwomen in the north and the south of Europe. • Protest against closing of Sorbian schools The Youth of European Nationalities participated in the recent demonstration against the closing of Sorbian schools in the federal state of Saxony in Germany. • SJR-General Assembly affirmed Kathia Nocker as chairwoman The S�dtiroler Jugendring (SJR) held its 71st General Assembly at the White Cross Youth. In the center of the assembly was the election of a new board. As was expected, Kathia Nocker from Wolkenstein was reelected as chairwoman. • Frisian youth association R�KEFLOOSE gets new structure The General Assembly of youth association R�kefloose last weekend brought about major changes for the future. • 1st board meeting in Bautzen / Budy�in • YEN participated in the Schumann-Parade in Warsaw and visited the extermination camp Auschwitz A group of YEN-members spent the Pentecost weekend in the Polish capital of Warsaw. Amongst doing other things they spoke with the board of the European Youth Forum (YFJ), which organised the second Youth Summit in the framework of the Summit of the Council of Europe in Warsaw. Furthermore on 15th May � the European Day � the Schumann parade took place in Warsaw, in which also the YEN participated. Rather incidentally there was a �high-political� encounter with the Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. The YEN Study Trip started with a visit to the Nazi-concentration camp in Auschwitz • Three more countries ratified the EU-Constitution / Everyone looks anxiously towards Paris During last week Slovakia, Germany and Austria have accepted the European Constitution by ratifying it in their parliaments. The map shows an overview of the current state of the ratification process. Green: Referendum is still to come. Light-green: The Constitution was accepted by referendum Blue: The ratification in parliament is still to come. Light-blue: The Constitution was accepted by ratification in parliament • Hvidna domovina Support the action of the Carinthian Slovenes! • Hoja, Hoja � FUEN, Hoja Last Sunday the 50th Congress of Nationalities of FUEN in Bucharest, Romania, ended. YEN didn�t come with empty hands; it had prepared a T-shirt with the Jubilee-logo for the members of the board. The board of FUEN could not wait � as can be seen from the photo with president Romedi Arquint � to try on their new �minority garment�. On the last evening as well a new battle cry emerged, composed by Romedi Arquint himself: �Hoja, Hoja � FUEN, Hoja�, was the slogan on that finishing evening in Bucharest. • 50th FUEN Congress of Nationalities 50th FUEN Congress on Nationalities from 5 to 7 May 2005 in Bucharest/Romania • 13-16 may: YEN Summit Poland In the framework of the 60 years� liberation of Europe from Nazi-fascism YEN organises a study visit to the concentration camp in Auschwitz. After the visit the participants will travel to Warsaw, where during the summit of the European heads of states and governments the 3rd Youth Summit of the European Youth Forum takes place in which the participants will take part. • COMEM Meeting in Brussels On the 22nd and 23rd of April the European Youth Forums COMEM (Council of Members) took place in Brussels. The Youth of European Nationalities (YEN), who is an observer-member and having talks regarding an upgrade of membership, was represented by two delegates. • Ritten-Declaration and resolutions of YEN have been sent The resolutions and the Ritten Declaration, which have been passed during the 2005 General Assembly of YEN have been sent from Bautzen/Budyšin to recipients all over Europe. • Remembrance: the Armenian genocide Today – 24th April 2005 – is the global “Remembrance Day” for the genocide committed to the Armenian minority by the Ottoman Empire. Ninety years ago it cost the lives of between one and two Million people. The Youth of European Nationalities commemorates this crime against humanity: • New minority commissioner in Schleswig-Holstein SPD and CDU agreed on a new minority commissioner in Schleswig-Holstein - Caroline Schwarz • Letter to SPD & CDU chairmen in Schleswig-Holstein The Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) wrote a letter the chairmen of both the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Schleswig-Holstein, Claus M�ller und Peter Harry Carstensen. After the elections in the most northern federal state of Germany, Schleswig-Holstein, both parties work towards a “large coalition”, a coalition with both large parties in it. In this open letter YEN refers to the special achievements of the minority commissioner of the Prime Minister, Mrs. Renate Schnack, and expresses its wish to have continuity in minority policies in Schleswig-Holstein. • Saxony’s Prime Minister talks to young Sorbs Last weekend Saxony’s Prime Minister Milbradt visited the Sorbian youth association PAWK. • Westfrisian regional government ignores parliament on topic of Frisian education, minister threatens to resign The fact that governor Ed Nijpels of Frysl�n signed the so-called “implementation covenant Frisian language and culture” with the Dutch minister, was contradictory to the opinion of the factions in the regional parliament. Four days earlier they decided in a large majority that they wish similar targets for Frisian as for Dutch. Two days after the covenant was signed, this position was affirmed during a plenary session of the regional parliament, against the wish of the provincial government. • Frisians On Air: Minority Web Radio YEN congratulates: North-Frisians start their own web radio. The program is on air every Monday to Friday from 7 pm to 11 pm. • B-K-E Virtual www.b-k-e.info B-K-E Virtual � Youth of European Nationalities and Der Nordschleswiger together online • Ibarretxe Plan at the centre of the Basque election campaign As announced by the Basque lehendakari (“president” in Basque) Juan Jos� Ibarretxe, the Basque elections will be held on the 17th April. The announcement was made the day after Mr Ibarretxe�s communication in the Spanish Congreso (Spanish Parliament) regarding his Plan for a greater autonomy. Mr. Ibarretxe has called for all political parties, including the outlawed Batasuna party to be allowed to take part. • Meeting with president Durnwalder in South Tyrol Dr. Luis Durnwalder, the president of the autonomous province of South Tyrol, Italy, used a meeting with the Youth of European Nationalities to discuss the current situation of minorities in Europe with representatives of the youth. In his speech Durnwalder stressed the model character of South Tyrol as example for an integrating minority policy. In Durnwalder�s words: "We think that it is important to create the conditions for a peaceful coexistence of all three nationalities in South Tyrol, whereby none of the nationalities will predominate." • Are you c(ool)reative? GiuRu is looking for a cool new t-shirt to be used as seminar T-shirt, but primarily as their own orga-t-shirt. Therefore a competition has been opened for the best idea and design. Everybody can participate with his concept. You can send your proposals to: GiuRu - Giuventetgna Rumantscha Chascha postala 312 CH-7002 Cuira Switzerland or to the following email adress giuru@giuru.ch in the following formats .pdf, .ai, .psd, .es! In case you need more information please send an e-mail to giuru@giuru.ch. Remember, it has to be based on GiuRu or on Rumantsch. And don't forget, the winner will be awarded with a prize!!! • New board members of YEN Two new members of the board were elected during the General Assemby. The Rhaeto-Roman Chatrina Josty of Switzerland was voted Vice President by the general assembly, the Burgenland Croat �tefan Emrich of Austria became Secretary. Foto: �tefan Emrich (the picture of Chatrina can be found on the german news ;-) • Thanks to the S�dtiroler Jugendring Our special thank to the team of the S�dtiroler Jugendring for organizing the great Easter Seminar "Participation - Youth in Action." • YEN Easter Seminar concluded successfully The Easter Seminar of the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN), the biggest minority youth congress in Europe ended yesterday, on 24th March 2005. The YEN Easter Seminar was organised by the S�dtiroler Jugendring in the �Haus der Familie� in Ritten. Photo: South Tyrolean president Dr. Durnwalder, the S�dtiroler Jugendring and the board of YEN • Frisian politicians reject proposal to lower targets for the teaching of Frisian The Frisian parliament wants to ensure that the targets for the teaching of Frisian in primary education remain equal to the targets for the teaching of Dutch. With the exception of the liberal VVD, all political parties in the Frisian parliament rejected the proposal of the Frisian executive to lower the targets for the teaching of Frisian. • Easter Seminar of the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) From Saturday 19 till Good Friday 25 March 2005 the traditional Easter Seminar of the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) will take place in South Tyrol. More than 100 young people, who belong to the linguistic, ethnic and national minorities of Europe, will meet for the largest congress of its kind in Europe. • Documentation Euroburja 2004 The documentation of the Youth Leader Seminar Euroburja is available. This seminar, from 3 till 7 November 2004, took place near the city of Trst/Trieste, at the Slovene minority in Italy. • YEN participated in the first of a number of minority conferences The Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) started a number of conferences under the name “Civil Society Dialogue”. The first conference was in Bucharest and YEN took also part in it. The objective of the meetings is to bring together minorities and state representatives in small groups. The ways of dialogue and participation of national minorities with the state institutions are analysed and assessed. • FYK elects a new board At the General Assembly on Saturday 5th of March FYK, the youth association of the Frisians in the Netherlands elected their new board. The new chairwoman is Tineke Bergstra, who was already board member and responsible for several activities. She will be supported by Aaltsje Malda and Kinke Hiemstra, which were re-elected for another period of two more years and also by Jelma Wiegersma. New in the board are Hester Knol and Erwin Westerhof. The YEN wishes the new presidium a lot of success and thanks the “old” FYK-board for the good cooperation. • Restructured EBLUL meets in Barcelona A revitalised EBLUL met in Barcelona over the weekend to hammer out its new structure and projects and to elect a new President and Board. Former Irish TV presenter Neasa N� Chinn�ide was elected president, with John McIntyre from the UK EBLUL committee and Frisian language planner Alex Riemersma elected as Vice-Presidents. • EU Language Intergroup debates status of Russian-speaking minorities in Latvia The conclusion of the European Parliament Intergroup for Traditional National Minorities, Constitutional Regions and Regional Languages debate today was clear and unanimous. While the tragic history of the Latvian people under Soviet rule cannot be forgotten, it is now crucial to face the present and give citizenship and the right to Russian-medium education to the Russian minority in Latvia. At the same time all parties agreed that is crucial to have a very good command of Latvian, the state language. • Dramatic election in Slesvig-Holstein Dramatic election in Slesvig-Holstein: political party of the Danish and Frisian minorities is deciding Sunday 20th February a new regional parliament was elected in Slesvig-Holstein. It was a dramatic election which is nowhere near over yet, and will bother the politics in Slesvig-Holstein and Germany for a long time. The party of the Danish minority and the Frisians � the S�dschleswigsche W�hlerverband (SSW)- moved to the centre of the attention after the fascinating election. • YES to the European constitution in Spain YEN welcomes the result of the referendum about the European Constitution in Spain • Junge SPitzen elected new presidium The new YEN member organisation Junge SPitzen voted for a new board during its general assembly. Uffe Iwersen, as confirmed chairman, will be supported in the coming term by Jan Schumann, Hauke Grella, Inge-Lise Kragh, Marc Janku, Frank Hansen, Jens-Christian Beuke, Patrick K�hler and Simon B. Petersen. The six suppleants J�rg Schumann, Philipp L�ffler, Hauke Schneiders, Gesa Clausen, Jens Clausen and Catharina Rathenburg complete the board. • Poland passes minority law Following the instruction in the Polish Constitution, and in spite of the resistance of national-catholic forces, the Polish parliament (Sejm) passed a law about national and ethnic minorities. It has taken almost twelve years of struggle in the parliamentary bodies. In municipalities, where 20 percent of the inhabitants declare themselves to be of a minority, bilingual place and street-signs will be allowed. And apart from Polish the language of the minority can be used as so-called support-language in all official actions of the municipality both in writing and orally. The law is applicable to nine national minorities (Byelorussian, Czech, Lithuanian, German, Armenian, Russian, Slovakian, Ukrainian and Jewish) as well as to four ethnic minorities (Karaimians, Lemkos, Roma and Tatars). Furthermore it regulates the use of a regional language, namely that of the Cashubians in the region south of Gdansk. News-Service der Burgenlandkroaten Translation: fbr • Council of Europe complains about hostile climate against the Slovenian minority in Carinthia • Roma in Central and Eastern Europe shall no longer be discriminated Several states of Central and Eastern Europe agreed on the integration of the Roma population in their societies within the next decade. A declaration which foresees to create better living-conditions for this minority was signed last Wednesday by representatives of the host country Bulgaria as well as by Hungary, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia-Montenegro, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. • junge SPitzen and the elections in Denmark Denmark is facing the election for the Danish Parliament � Folketing. Junge SPitzen, the cultural und political youth platform of the German minority in Denmark is a member of the Youth of European Nationalities. The political youth organisation invokes its 250 members to use their right to vote. • Bonn-Copenhagen Declarations 2005 - Outset Bonn-Copenhagen Declarations 2005 - Outset Last weekend the first project of the three minority organisations of YEN in the German-Danish border regions took place. The outset was organised by the Jungen SPitzen with a sports weekend at the Knivsberg. The next events will be a theatre workshop of the North Frisian association R�kefloose and a celebration party of the Danish youth organisation SdU. • Serbske Nowiny online Serbske Nowiny - daily evening newspaper of the Lusatian Sorbs now also available at the internet www.serbske-nowiny.de • Elections in Denmark In Denmark the elections are sweeping over the country. It is not only that the German minority in Nordschleswig gets ready for the communal election in November 2005 under the motto: �Future for Nordschleswig� and that it prepares the celebrations of 50 years of Bonn-Copenhagen Declarations (minority declaration). First the Danish parliament � the Folketing � will be elected. On 8 February 2005 the Danish voters are asked to go to the polls. (Photo: Danish Folketing in Copenhagen) • Remembering Auschwitz - 60 years after the liberation On the 27th of January 2005 the liberation of the concentration camp Auschwitz is exactly 60 years ago. On this occasion YEN will organise a study visit for the youth of European minorities to Auschwitz and Warsaw at Whitsun 2005. (Foto: The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.) • YEN supports the campaign of the West-Frisians Twa talen foar elk bern! � Two languages for every child! • Twa talen foar elk bern! � Two languages for every child! Frisian government wants to reduce level of education in the mother-tongue. Support the action of Te M�l! / to crazy at www.temal.tk • Catalan MEP Bernat Joan will protest to European Court of Human Rights on behalf of Macedonians and Turks Protests over the continuous non-registration of “Dom na Makedonskata Kultura” (the Home of Macedonian Culture) and the judicial decision for dissolving the “Turkish Union of Xanthi” are again set to come before the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg. • YEN-Easterseminar 2005 Participation Invitation to the YEN Easterseminar 2005 We kindly invite all YEN member organisations and friends to this year�s Easter Seminar which takes place from 19-25 March 2005 at South Tyrol! www.easterseminar.org • Council of Europe:'serious step backwards' in Frisian language education The Committee of Experts on the Charter for Regional and Minority Languages of the Council of Europe is concerned about recent developments in the teaching of Frisian according to a new report recently published on the Council of Europe website. • A clear �YES� to the European Constitution Yesterday (11 Januari) the European Parliament approved with a clear majority the Constitution Treaty for Europe and pleads therefore for its ratification. In the coming months the YEN will work actively on making the public aware of the Constitution�s content and support the ratification of the European Constitution. In the next issue of the new YEN publication-series�yenfacts� the theme will be the European Constitution and the minorities. (Photo Source Press-service of the European Parliament) • 15 years� jubilee of the GJU The Gemeinschaft Junger Ungarndeutscher (Association of young Germans in Hungary � GJU) celebrated that it had its 15 years� jubilee on 31 December 2004. • YEN calendar 2005 All projects of the YEN-network 2005 as overview. • Work program of YEN in the year 2005 Participation � Youth in action: Projects for the youth of the European minorities. Program of the network YEN in the year 2005. Directly at the start of the new year the Youth of European Nationalities drafted its programme for the year 2005. The connecting theme of the many projects of the YEN and its 27 member organisations all over Europe is the participation of minorities and the youth of minorities in the European, national and regional/local levels. • Bilingual Slovene school threatened by financial cuts In 1984 the Slovene minority in the province of Udine did not have any official recognition. In those days a group of people – teachers, parents, and local administrators – decided to found a private school where Slovene and Italian would be taught. Despite the verbal attacks by Italian nationalists, particularly active in this area which borders former Yugoslavia, a nursery school was started, followed by a primary school with six children two years later. • NEW Magazin yenfacts The Youth of Euroean Nationalities issues its new magazine: the yenfacts. With special thanks to Jan Diedrichsen, Tome Jankovič und Frank de Boer. • Merry Christmas! The Youth of European Nationalities wish You a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year 2005! • 10 years PAWK Sorbian youth association celebrates Jubilee � and the YEN is also there Bautzen / Budy�in 18 of december 2004 report by Jan Diedrichsen • Spain calls for language recognition On Monday 13 December Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos presented proposals to make Galician, Basque and Catalan-Valencian official EU languages. At a regular meeting of Foreign Ministers in Brussels on Monday Mr Moratinos submitted proposal calling for Basque and Galician to be accepted as "official and working languages", of the EU according to El Mundo. • Green MP Stoisits criticises Austrian Chancellor for not putting into place missing bilingual place name signs Austrian chancellor Sch�ssel is severely criticised by Terezija Stoisits, the spokeswoman on minorities of the Greens in the national parliament. Exactly three years after the constitutional court decision still not one extra place name sign has been put into place. • Results referendum Hungary invalid The results of the Hungarian about double citizenship for Hungarians living outside the borders of Hungary are invalid because the election participation was too low. This was announced by the central election committee in Budapest. • Joško Emrich new chairman of the Hrvatski akademski klub (HAK) The 21 years old Joško Emrich is the new chairman of the Croatian club of university graduates and students in Vienna. • General Assembly of the Hrvatski akademski klub (HAK) Today, December 2nd 2004, at 20:00 in the evening the Croatian club of university graduates and students will have its 57th ordinary General Assembly. • Frisians only national minority in the Netherlands Are the Frisians at this moment the only national minority in the Netherlands or can more national minorities be recognised, like for example the Sinti and Roma? This was the question in the debate about the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, which took place in the Dutch Senate on the 30th of November. • Romania: Hungarian party, RMDSZ, re-elected The umbrella organisation of the ethnic Hungarians in Romania, the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ, UDMR), kept its position in the Parliament at the elections held on November 28th. The electoral programme of the RMDSZ called ‘Together for Autonomy’ promised cultural autonomy for all Hungarian speakers in four years and territorial autonomy later. The turnout at the elections was of 65%, a little bit higher than in 2000. • Minister De Villepin turns down Basques’ requests The French Interior Minister signed an agreement to set up a Public Bureau for Basque Language Policy, in addition to a collaboration agreement established with the D�partement on Basque language teaching • First language law for North Frisian an 'important step ahead' On the eleventh of November the Landtag (Parliament) of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany's northernmost state, passed its first law ever on the promotion of the Northfrisian language. No one voted against the law, although seven members of the liberal FDP abstained. • New survey shows Frisian declining with every generation Children in Friesland speak much more Dutch than Frisian these days. According to a survey among parents of young children by the Frisian broadcaster Omrop Frysl�n only 34 % of all children are nowadays raised in Frisian, while 54 % are raised in Dutch. Nine percent of the couples with children raise their children bilingually. Twenty years ago 42 % of all children were raised in Frisian, 48 % in Dutch and three percent bilingually. • Information about the General Assembly of the European Youth Forum The Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) took part in the General Assembly of the largest European youth-organisation � the European Youth Forum � in Madrid. Since 2002 YEN is observer member of the European Youth Forum. During the General Assembly, which took four days, the representatives of YEN had the opportunity to lead a workgroup and explain the European minority issue. This aroused both the participants� as well as some board members� interest. In the intensive days full of hard-working, about 200 participants from 90 member organisations (INGYOs and National Youth Councils) elected a new president and decided upon the strategy for the coming two years. The Spanish Prime Minister Jos� Luis Rodriguez Zapatero welcomed the 200 young people in his residency and explained the new youth pact, which was recently launched by Sweden, Germany, Spain and France. • New Minority Commissioner in Germany Member of the German federal parliament Hans-Peter Kemper was installed as Commissioner for national and German minorities. Kemper succeeds Jochen Welt in this position. • European Youth Forum Meeting in Madrid General Assembly of the European Youth Forum in Madrid • Youth Leader Seminar successfully concluded YEN opens new homepage and starts image campaign On the 7th of November the Youth Leader Seminar �Euroburja 2004� of the Youth of European Nationalities was successfully concluded. It took place in Campo Sacro/ Bo�je Polje, close to Trieste / Trst. 60 young people from several minorities in Europe discussed the regions of Europe and the situation of minorities and minority youth within a new, enlarged Europe. The hosting organisation was this year the youth of the Slovenian minority in Italy � MOSP (Mladi v odkrivanju skupnih poti). • Youth Leader Seminar Youth Leader Seminar �Euroburja 2004� Campo Sacro / Bo�je Polje (Italy) Official opening will take place on Thursday 4th of November at 10:00 o�clock in the community centre in Campo Sacro/ Bo�je Polje - after the opening a press conference will take place with representatives of the region of Gorizia. Vsi boste dobrodo�li na jesenskem seminarju MENSa. To bo prilo�nost za srečanje prijateljev, ki jih ne vidite ravno pogostoma. • Frisian place names will be used in German roadmaps In the future in Northern Germany also Frisian place names will be used on roadmaps. Already in the end of this year the first maps with bilingual place names will be published. More maps and atlases will follow. North Frisian is spoken by a minority in the most northern state of Germany, in Slesvig-Holstein, in the western coastal area. • Again Sami-winner of Liet Ynternasjonaal The 3rd edition of the Liet Ynternasjonaal song contest in Ljouwert, Frysl�n, was won by Niko Valkeap�� and his band from Norway. The winning song “Rabas mielain” was sung in Sami. The previous winner, in 2003, was also from Samiland. • EBLUL out of the crisis by decentralisation EBLUL is in serious financial trouble, but its work will be unabatedly continued, and the member states will be more strongly involved. • Carinthia’s president Haider wanted to cancel the membership of FUEN The state of Carinthia should have cancelled its membership of the Federal Union of European Nationalities, according to the wish of its president Dr. J�rg Haider. This is confirmed by the �VP Carinthia (People’s Party). The proposal was retracted however. • International song contest for minority languages in Ljouwert / Leeuwarden On Friday October 22nd in theatre the Harmonie in Ljouwert, Friesland an international song festival for minority languages takes place. The festival emphatically reacts against the Eurovision song contest. The organisers are the opinion that the Eurovision song contest has become a commercial party for English songs. • "Miteinander" (together) seminar at DJU in Ukraine From 16th till 20th September the seminar „Miteinander“ took place in Lvov, organised by the organised by the Otto-Benecke-foundation in cooperation the Lvov’ regional organisation „German Youth” and YEN-member organisation German Youth in the Ukraine (DJU). In this seminar representatives of German youth from several countries in Europe participated, namely from Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Denmark, Germany, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Moldavia. Among them were also other member organisations of YEN. Almost all the participants observed that the quality of the youth work for the German minorities has clearly improved due to the support by the German federal government, independently of the geographical position and the political situation. • No agreement about minority protection in Austria The fundamental rights committee of the Austrian convention finished its negotiations about embedding of minority protection into the new constitution without consensus. • Minorities in Germany will get a new commissioner The current commissioner for minority issues of the federal government in Germany, Jochen Welt, will become county president. He won the election against his CDU (Christian Democratic Party). • Minority protection in the Austrian constitution Together with representatives of the national minorities, Terezija Stoisits demands more rights for the minorities in the constitution. Terezija Stoisits is minority speaker for the Green Party and member of the fundamental rights committee of the Austrian convention. • Member organisation honoured with award The Sorbian youth association PAWK is member of YEN and was just awarded the prize of Domowina, the umbrella organisation of the Sorbs. Recently the “Days of the Sorbian Youth” took place in Lusatia. On the photo you can see the demonstration during these days, which was aimed against a ban on the use of the Sorbian language in a home for disabled people. • EUROLANG calls for voluntary payments Editor in chief Davyth Hicks calls upon the users of the news agency Eurolang, to voluntarily pay for news about the European minorities. • The president of the Croatian Republic receives representatives of the Croatian minority from whole Europe At the moment the „10th week of the Croatian minorities” takes place in the Croatian capital Zagreb. Until Saturday several Creation minorities from all over the world present themselves. • Exchange of FYK � REMUS � PAWK � GJU � MOSP From the 8th to the 14th of August four member organisations of the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) met in Grou, Frysl�n / The Netherlands to take part at the second exchange within YEN this summer. • European Reflexion 2004 From the 12th to the 19th of July 2004 four memberorganisations of Youth European Nationalities participated in a summer exchange in Nordschleswig, Denmark. • Roma MEP urges Commission to act for her people The first ever Roma Member of the European Parliament has urged the European Commission to start a concerted effort to improve living conditions for her people. In an interview with the EUobserver, the 29-year old Hungarian MEP from Roma origin, Livia Jaroka, said that Brussels has been "very good at pressuring the new EU member states" to address the Roma issue, but that it had "failed to take concrete action itself." • YEN is worried about the outbreak of violence against the national minorities in the Vojvodina The president of the Youth of European Nationalities Stephan Kleinschmidt and Silvija Buczolich (member of the board) have used their visit to the Vojvodina and their participation to the Summer School of the Hungarian youth (VIFO � Youth Forum of Vojvodina), to stress the need for an organised minority protection. • Minorities as the main topic More than 100 Students of Flensburg University have been following an introduction to Frisian language and history. • Voices of Europe 2004 – Back to nature. Finally: The cultural high light of every YEN year – the Voices of Europe - will soon take place. This years Voices of Europe will take place in one of the most beautiful places in Denmark - the island of R�m . Here you can fill in the registration-form and find further information's. • Conselh de Representacion Generala de la Joventut d�Oc will apply for membership of YEN YEN on Tour in Western Europe Lissandre Varenne (president of General Council of Occitan Youth Representation ), Judith Walde / Wałdźic (board member of YEN), Est�ve Cr�s (president of General Council of Occitan Youth Representation ), Denis Mallet (leader of CIRDOC), P�ire Costa, Cecila Chapdu�lh (president of General Council of Occitan Youth Representation ), Lauren� Revest (president of General Council of Occitan Youth Representation ), Magal� Urroz (president of General Council of Occitan Youth Representation ), Ydwine Willemsma (vice-president of YEN) • YEN and EU-enlargement • S�dtiroler Jugendring was visited by members of the regional parliament • Former YEN-Vice president Angelina Nadolski decorated • Sorbian YEN-member organisation welcomes new EU member states • YEN Vice-president welcomes EU-membership chances for Croatia • YEN at the European Youth Forum in Brussels • The YEN Resolutions are being sent at the moment • YEN Resolutions & Press releas • YEN at Meeting with DialogForumNorden • European Parliament Elections - Vote! Campaign between minority and majority • 49. FUEN Congress in Poland • Board Elections 2004 • YEN at the first Biikeemf�ng • YEN at the EBLUL-Congress • Activity List • Easter Seminar 2004 • New generation of EU programs - YEN is participating at EU consultation • Hungarian Representative to Convention calls for EU minorities Committee • YEN Network - Competence Team Meeting in Denmark • Minorities demand panel at German Parliament • YEN Resolutions at FUEN Congress • YEN Consultation answer on Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity • YEN apllication of the Advisory Council - Council of Europe • First reaction on the Consultation for Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity. • Help Radio AGORA and RADIO DVA / Pupil consider sympathy strike • EBLUL calls for European Agency promoting linguistic diversity and language learning • Hunger Strike for Slovenian Radio Broadcaster in Carinthia - support from North Frisland • YEN is participating in EU-consultation projects • YEN-demand for a common lobbying office in Brussels was welcomed in essence During the 49th FUEN Nationality Congress (From 19th � 23rd of May) the proposal of the Youth of European Nationalities for a common lobbying office raised a lot of attention.


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