From 8 to 12 May, the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) held its 47th congress in Subotica, in Yugoslavia’s Vojvodina province. This year’s theme was "The regional diversity of minorities and cultural cross-border cooperation." The Vojvodina is one of the most multi-ethnic and multi-confessional regions in Europe, and is home to a substantial Rusyn community. FUEN is an umbrella organization of European minority-rights non-governmental organizations based in Flensburg, the center of Germany's Danish minority. It was established in 1949, and has consultative status at the Council of Europe and the United Nations.

The organization’s primary role is that of lobbyist for minority rights throughout Europe. Its goal is to preserve the national identities, languages, cultures and histories of the continent's various minority groups.

More than 250 participants from 22 different countries attended the congress in Subotica. The majority were representatives of FUEN’s more than 70 member organizations, though government representatives and minority-rights specialists also attended.

The congress was hosted by the Democratic Union of Croats of the Vojvodina (DSHV). The federal Ministry for National and Ethnic Minorities and the provincial Secretariat for Administration, Regulations and National Minorities also helped to organize the event.

Vojvodina’s successes and failures
FUEN president Romedi Arquint opened the congress with a speech entitled “Regionalism and ethnic variety.” He praised the Vojvodina’s history of inter-ethnic harmony but stressed that international cooperation is essential for the successful protection of minority groups. “In Europe, we are currently re-interpreting the traditional definition of the border [from] a dividing element, [to] a contact axis, as a bridge that facilitates contact with each other and thus promotes cooperation between states. Lingual and cultural contacts across borders should consequently be fostered and not obstructed,” he told the congress.

In addition to Arquint, representatives of Yugoslavia’s federal government, Vojvodina’s provincial government, the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, as well as the mayor of Subotica and the president of the DSHV also addressed the congress.

Tamas Korhecz, Vojvodina’s provincial Secretary for Administration, Regulations and National Minorities mentioned the recent decision to introduce Croatian as the province’s sixth official language as a step taken towards increasing the rights of minorities in the Vojvodina. The other official languages are Serbian, Hungarian, Slovak, Romanian and Rusyn.

Subotica mayor Bela Tonković described the situation of minorities under the previous, Milošević regime. While all citizens of Yugoslavia suffered under that regime, minorities bore the brunt. Tonković illustrated this with the example of the roughly 40,000 Croatians who left the Vojvodina voluntarily or involuntarily in the course of the last twelve years.

As part of the congress, a round table was held on the theme “Regional Differences of Minorities and Cross-border Cultural Cooperation in the Case of the Vojvodina” and a paper entitled “Legal Aspects of Minority Protection in Yugoslavia, Croatia, Hungary and Romania and Cross-border Cooperation” was presented.

Another major feature of the congress was the presentation of status reports by representatives of the Vojvodina’s Hungarian, Croatian, German, Romany and Sinti, Slovak, Romanian and Rusyn minorities. Julijan Tamaš spoke for the Rusyns.

Resolving to make a better Europe
Towards the end of the congress, the FUEN Assembly of Delegates passed eight resolutions, calling on states and international organizations to act in cases where minority groups are threatened.

The first resolution has a broad scope concerning the protection of national minorities throughout Europe. In it, the Assembly of Delegates appeals to the Council of Europe, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to take various steps to improve the overall situation of Europe’s minority groups.

The remaining resolutions concern specific groups: the Cornish people of the UK; the Ingushetians of the Russian Federation; refugees from Chechnya in Ingushetia; the Muslim population of the Russian Federation and Georgia; the Dolomite Ladinian communities in Italy; and the Roma and Sinti in Germany. The eighth resolution concerns the Rusyns in Ukraine. In its resolution 2002/08, the Assembly of Delegates expresses “concern at the continuing violation of the national rights” of the Rusyns in Transcarpathia. The Assembly “demands yet again” that Ukraine recognize the Rusyns as a national minority, end the assimilation of the Rusyns into the Ukrainian nation and grand them rights equal to the other national minorities in Ukraine.

The resolution also demands that the Ukrainian government facilitate contact among the Rusyn minority both within Ukraine and elsewhere, according to the provisions of the Council of Europe’s General Convention on the Protection of National Minorities.

Finally, it also demands that the Ukrainian government publish the results of the 2001 census which concern the Rusyn minority in Ukraine. The census was conducted last December, but little data has been released as of yet. While people were permitted to declare themselves Rusyns on the census forms, it is unclear whether the authorities will release the number of people who did so, or whether those people will simply be counted as Ukrainians.

Great interest in the Rusyns
FUEN took up the Rusyn cause, particularly in Ukraine, some time ago. It has passed several resolutions along the lines of 2002/08, and the organization has also actively lobbied Kiev on behalf of the Rusyn minority for some time.

In 2001,FUEN published a report in which its vice-president, J. V. Komlóssy, described the situation of Rusyns in Ukraine, as well as the Hungarian minority and the then-upcoming December 2001 census. Komlóssy visited Ukraine in October and November 2000, first to Užhorod and Mukačevo in Transcarpathia, then to Kiev. He met with both government officials and with representatives of minority groups.

Komlóssy points out that Ukraine faces the challenge of building up a national identity and reducing the influence of Russia while maintaining a sizable Russian minority. It also must deal with numerous other minorities and their ethnic mother countries, all the while complying with obligations to international organizations and treaties and maintaining harmonious relations with its neighbors.

Describing the minorities of Transcarpathia, the historical Subcarpathian Rus', Komlóssy says: “They lived peacefully together for centuries without ethnic tensions. Today, the growing Ukrainian nationalism represents a serious danger to this situation.”

After a brief history of Subcarpathian Rus, Komlóssy concludes that “there is hardly any other region in Central Europe where in the 20th century the principle of the right for self-determination was disregarded so often, and so completely” FUEN’s actions on behalf of the Rusyns in Ukraine are easy to understand after reading this report.

While none of the Vojvodina’s Rusyn organizations are FUEN members, both the Society of Carpatho-Rusyns of Uzhhorod, Ukraine, and the Zjednoczenie Lemków of Szymbark, Poland, are.

Links:
Federal Union of European Nationalities

47th Congress documents

Democratic Union of Croats in the Vojvodina

FUEN report on Ukraine and its minorities

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