Protecting minorities ‘enriches’ Europe

Protecting the right of minorities to use their mother tongue helps to promote diversity and culture in Europe, a foreign ministry state secretary told a conference on Tuesday.

There are a number of minorities living in Europe that have the right to use their mother tongue not only in their private life but in conducting official affairs,

István Mikola, who is in charge of international cooperation and security policy, told a conference focusing on the Council of Europe’s charter on regional and minority languages.

He said that steps must be taken to ensure that all minorities on the continent can exercise these rights.

Addressing the conference, Árpád János Potápi, state secretary for Hungarian communities abroad, emphasised the importance Hungary attaches to minority rights, noting that

today one-third of all Hungarians around the world live beyond Hungary’s borders and 13 minority communities live in the country.

Source: MTI