The Lund Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Public Life

Abstract

"The Lund Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Public Life" were published in 1999 by the Foundation on InterEthnic Relations. They were developed by 18 experts on international law, political science and sociology illustrating ways to improve participation of national minorities in public life and hence strengthen domestic stability in states with minority populations as well as international security in general. It is certain these Recommendations will not fail to gain the attention of other experts in the field. Its authors are leading authorities on minority problems, who have incorporated their experiences from many different parts of the world in this document. They represent the current position on what is "feasible" in implementing contemporary policies for minorities. However this alone does not justify reporting on the recommendations of a non-governmental organization (NGO) in the OSCE Yearbook. There are much better reasons for pursuing this endeavour. For one thing the "Foundation on InterEthnic Relations" was created in 1993 as an NGO whose sole task was to support the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM). This meant they had close links with his office, in other words, an OSCE body. A second point is that the HCNM commissioned the experts with the development of the Lund Recommendations personally. He was continuing a practice he had started in 1996 with the "The Hague Recommendations Regarding the Education Rights of National Minorities" followed by the "Oslo Recommendations Regarding the Linguistic Rights of National Minorities" in 1998.