With the signatures of the FUEN-president Hans Heinrich Hansen and those of the president and
co-president of the Intergroup in the European
Parliament, Csaba Tabajdi and Michl Ebner, the
European Dialogue Forum was established. The forum will for the first time ensure that there is a formalised dialogue between the European
minorities and the European Parliament. The
European Dialogue Forum will come together in Brussels on 18 March for its first, constitutive
meeting.

In an election at the latest congress in Pécs,
Hungary, FUEN elected a delegation of high-level representatives who will represent the interests of the European minorities in the forum.

FUEN-president Hans Heinrich Hansen expects a lot from the Dialogue Forum: “we, the minorities in
Europe, lack the opportunity to hand over our
concerns directly to the politicians. There is still a gap in the communication between the minorities in Europe and the decision makers in Brussels. It would be great if the European Dialogue Forum would help to bridge this gap.”

This attitude is supported by the president of the Intergroup, Csaba Tabajdi: “we must lobby more strongly for the issues of the national minorities in Europe – also in the parliament this has not become easier. From the Dialogue Forum we expect input for our work and a constructive dialogue with the representatives of the minorities in Europe”, says to Tabajdi, who is a Hungarian member of the
European Parliament.

In the first meeting the standing orders will be
adopted and specific working themes will be agreed. The forum will meet twice a year according to the founding declaration.

One of the themes will also be the question how the minority issues will play a role in the coming elections and how the minority representatives could support “minority friendly politicians” in the upcoming elections.

“For us it is important that this will not be another
forum in which only discussions take place – we want to work on results together with the Intergroup and in the field of minorities in Europe there is plenty of work left”, underlines FUEN-president Hans
Heinrich Hansen.

Photo: v.l.t.r. : President of the intergroup, MEP Csaba Tabajdi and president of FUEN, Hans Heinrich Hansen just after signing the Declaration on the foundation of the „European Dialogue Forum of Traditional National Minorities, Constitutional Regions and Regional Languages“. In the background: Jan Diedrichsen, FUEN director and David Koranyi, secretary general of the intergroup.

“For us it is important that this will not be another
forum in which only discussions take place – we want to work on results together with the Intergroup and in the field of minorities in Europe there is plenty of work left”, underlines FUEN-president Hans Heinrich Hansen.

The the site of the dialogue forum with members from FUEN

The founding declaration of the Dialogue Forum

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