[ALBSA-Info] Minutes of the Minorities Language Conference

[Agron Alibali]

Minutes of the EBLUL conference on linguistic diversity in Greece (Salonica, 15-11- 2002)


Minutes of the conference on linguistic diversity in Greece
Thessaloniki 
15th November 2002
Hotel Capsis



The conference on "Linguistic Diversity in Greece", organised by the
European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL) together with the Greek
Member State Committee of EBLUL, took place the 15th November 2002 in the
Hotel Capsis, in Thessaloniki. The conference started at 9 A.M. and
finished at 8 P.M. Previous to the conference a fact-finding mission of 3
experts took place; the conference was followed by a visit to the areas
where lesser-used languages are spoken.

Morning session: Results of the fact-finding mission

1. Opening speech by Mr Bojan Brezigar, President of the European Bureau
for Lesser Used Languages.

In his introduction the President of EBLUL, Mr Bojan Brezigar showed his
satisfaction with this first conference of EBLUL in Greece. Facing
enlargement, the EU has to find standards regarding lesser-used languages.
In the future all of the Balkans will be part of the European Union. There
will be no borders from Athens to Helsinki and all countries will have the
same currency. One of the advantages is a common currency and other common
standards. But not everything should be standardised. Europe is full of
diversity, where every village has its own church, museum and above all
language. It's not a melting pot like the United States and Europeans want
to preserve the diversity. They can accept a common currency and other
standardization, but not the same language, the same theatre nor the same
history. This is the reason why the European Institutions defend the values
expressed in the Charter for Fundamental Rights. The preservation of
cultural and linguistic diversity can make us accept the standardization in
all other domains. The European Union should give opportunities to those
who want to keep their own language. While a general promotion and respect
for lesser-used languages should be found, each regional or minority
language should - according to the European Charter for Regional and
Minority Languages of the Council of Europe - decide its way. The situation
in Greece is a bit different from the rest of Europe. The Balkans has
suffered from several wars apart from the two world wars. The European
Bureau for Lesser Used Languages has always been working with the
governments and not against the governments. 

2. Welcoming speech by Mr Athanasios Parisis, president of the Greek MSC.

Mr Parisis stressed that within the EU there are 40 millions of lesser-used
language speakers. All Member States have lesser-used languages and Greece
is no exception in this regard, although some people like to think of a
monolingual Greece. 
Education and Media are the most important fields for lesser-used languages
in Greece, and in relation to this Mr Parisis asked for the support of the
European Union, the Council of Europe and the European Bureau for Lesser
Used Languages. He also spoke about the troubled history of the Balkans,
with wars and consequently refugee problems. The history and a long
tradition have shaped the mentality of the Greek people. Parisis urged for
the support of the mass media for the different linguistic communities. 

3. Presentation of the results of the fact-finding mission by Mr Gabriel
von Toggenburg, Mr Bela Tonkovic and Mr Domenico Morelli.

The fact-finding mission was composed of Mr Bela Tonkovic - Vice-president
of FUEN, Mr Domenico Morelli - President of the Italian MSC, Mr Gabriel
von Toggenburg - EURAC. Consultations took place with approximately 40
persons from the Macedonian and the Vlach languages communities. According
to Mr Toggenburg, psychological pressure with the interlocutors was
obvious. Many think they are the last generation being able to speak the
minority language and often they feel ashamed of their identity ("second
class citizens"). There are virtually no cultural organisations which
expressis verbis promote minority cultures and languages. This primary
scope seems often hidden. Some people were convinced, that the chances for
a career would be limited if the real lesser-used language identity is
revealed. 

Facts: 1. People think diversity is getting lost;
2. Loyalty towards the Greek state is strong, but additional identity is
requested;
3. EU as a source of hope.

Mr von Toggenburg also pointed out that the situation is dire, there's an
enormous loss of identity. The languages are not represented in the media.
When Macedonian speakers tuned into to listen to the transmissions of a
Radio channel from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, a Greek
channel was placed on exactly the same frequency. Mr Tonkovic stressed that
the solution to all these problems should be found through dialogue. Mr
Morelli pointed out the strong belief in the European institutions. The
establishment of a Greek Member State Committee has given them hope.

4. Presentation by Mr Lampros Baltsiotis, lawyer, KEMO, Minority Languages
Research Centre.

Mr Baltsiotis explained first the reason for the centre, which lies in the
fact that so far the scientific voice was absent in Greece. Then he focused
on the historical development of lesser used languages in Greece and the
different treatments of the Greek states towards the language groups.
Baltsiotis also spoke about the conception of a Greek homeland, about the
motto of a Greek national state, but pointed out that Greece has changed a
lot in recent years. 

A representative of the Turkish speaking community asked why his
lesser-used language community was not visited by the fact-finding mission.

Mr Brezigar added, that the fact-finding mission depended on geographical
constraints.

5. Presentation by Mr Sotirios Bletsas, Vice-president of the Greek MSC 

Recent experience with media showed, that people who defend linguistic
diversity in Greece are looked upon with disapproval by the Greek
authorities. Nevertheless, now lesser-used languages have access to the
media. To make our presence known, we should send letters to famous people.
This could create an immense support. We should also aim for increased
presence in TV and Radio. Above all we should show the Greeks that learning
lesser-used languages is an asset. Bletsas stressed that with the presence
of EBLUL in Greece we could more easily carry out these things.

Comment by Mr Brezigar:

Mr Brezigar suggests preparing a draft project for the promotion of
linguistic diversity within the Expo 2008 in Thessaloniki. Regarding the
Olympic Games 2004 time seems to be running out. When people ask me why
they should learn a lesser-used language instead of English I used to give
the basic policy of Commissioner Reding as an answer; one language does not
exclude another, they should learn both. For instance Greeks could learn
English together with Macedonian. The teaching of regional or minority
languages could be improved together with Greek and an International Language.

Comment by Mr Baltsiotis:

Too often the lesser-used language speakers have to apologise for using his
mother tongue and not the official language of the state.

Comment by Ms Kata Kulavkova of PEN International:

Linguistic problems in this region are often closely linked to neighbour
states.

Comment by Bojan Brezigar:

One of our main principles is that there should be no change of borders;
lesser-used languages should not have anything to do with the drawing up of
borders. Brezigar also gave his recognition for the good work that PEN
International has done in this field. 


Afternoon session: Best practices in the promotion of lesser used languages.


6. Presentation by Mr Peter Nelde, Professor at the Brussels Research
Centre on Multilingualism: Do lesser used languages need a common European
language policy?

Prof. Nelde explained the importance of a new overall and inclusive
approach, taking into consideration not only traditional languages but
migrant languages as well. The first problem language planners encounter is
that the terminology changes from a country to another. Nevertheless, it is
certain, that the future Europe will be a linguistically diverse and a
multilingual one. He mentioned seven aspects that affect language policy.
The concept for multilingualism is important. The future of Europe will be
a multilingual one. It's easy to tell how many official languages there are
but more difficult to estimate the number of lesser-used language speakers.
Translation and Interpretation, Nelde mentioned that translation and
interpretation costs are very low in comparison with other expenses.
Globalisation, he said that people are generally afraid of loosing their
roots, even though most are open to globalisation. Due to globalisation we
have new identities. Before you had Greeks, Germans, French etc, now new
ones are challenging these identities. Nelde mentioned the example of a
person from Wemmel, who in Brussels would call himself a Wemmelaar, in
Flanders maybe Brusselaar, in Wallonia he would present himself as a
Fleming, outside Belgium as a Belgian and in Japan perhaps as a European.
Information Technology, Nelde mentioned for instance that the Sorbs have
used an IT-programme to revitalise their language. He also said that the
ideology of education is important. There's a trend to teach English and
French as foreign languages in schools throughout Europe. There's seldom an
education ideology of neighbouring languages. Having International in
Athens and Thessaloniki does not tell anything about the education of
lesser-used languages. Nelde also pointed out that language education
varies from country to country. In Luxemburg most children learn 4 or 5
languages, but this is not at all the case in the neighbouring countries.
Finally he brought up the topics of subsidiariety versus centralism and the
concept of positive discrimination. Nelde made a comparison of the
centralism in France and the decentralist structure of the German state. To
illustrate the concept of positive discrimination Nelde mentioned that
lesser-used language communities could be guaranteed special rights, for
instance the Dutch teachers in Brussels are more expensive than the French
teachers.

7. Presentation by Mr Domenico Morelli, President of the Italian MSC: A
comparison of lesser-used language legislation in Greece and Italy.

Mr Morelli compared the history of the unitary states of Greece and Italy
and pointed out some fundamental similarities. In spite of the substantial
ethnic, linguistic and religious unity of the whole of the Italian
peninsula political unity was only reached in 1861. The Hellenic state was
established in 1830. The model both states had in mind goes back to the
liberal idea of a unitary state, which can be summarised in the phrase "one
state, one language, one culture". This policy has very much characterised
both Italy and Greece. Morelli mentioned that Italy imposed the Florentine
dialect as the only recognised national language to the detriment of all
other languages spoken. This linguistic policy was aggravated by fascism,
which waged a hard war of assimilation and destruction of the linguistic
minorities. The same model characterises the Greek state, where Greek was
declared official language and the existence of any other language was
ignored. Morelli pointed out that in Greece the national identity drew a
particular character from religion. The recognition of regional or minority
languages has been granted only thanks to international agreements both in
Greece and in Italy. 

Morelli said that he hoped that the creation of Member State Committee in
Greece might be a helpful initiative for the recognition of the lesser-used
languages and their cultures. That recognition does not clash either with
the unitary nature of national States or with the process of construction
of the European Union, but it may encourage it. And this is shown by the
experience of trans-frontier relations. He stressed that trans-frontier
co-operation, in fact, has grown to strengthen cultural, social, linguistic
and economic ties beyond traditional frontiers. He mentioned the case of
the Griki in Apulia. Thanks to the Italian law of protection and to their
frequent and fertile relations with Greece they have worked out a whole
series of initiatives, going from exchange of teachers to twin-ships
between schools and to commercial and cultural exchanges. All this has made
the Griki community flourish again. It has been internationally
acknowledged that an action in favour of lesser-used languages guarantees
peace and stability of nations.

Morelli finally stressed that a common Europe may give us an opportunity to
strengthen a general regional or minority language protection policy. The
interest in regional or minority languages and cultures would become a sign
of pluralism and tolerance in a multicultural and multiethnic society.

8. Presentation by Mr Gabriel Von Toggenburg, researcher at the European
Academy: Chances and limits set by the EU.

The European Union is a newcomer in the area of regional or minority
language protection. There are positive and negative aspects. The Council
mainly represents the member state interest, which is usually reluctant to
changes, whereas the European Parliament is more in favour of regional or
minority languages. The resolutions of the European parliament are not
legally binding for the member states. The financial side is very
positive, the budget line for the safeguard for regional and minority
languages grew from € 100.000 when it started to € 4 million last year, but
it was finally put down because of the decision of the European Court of
Justice. Concerning the eastern enlargement, the Copenhagen criteria are
used in all negotiations for the protection of minorities. There are
however no legal obligations for the new member states concerning regional
or minority language legislation. 

The common market could also be seen as a threat, it tends to realise the
mobility of workers, capital etc. Regional or minority language protection
tends to favour the preservation of things. It's rare under International
Public Law that in an international organisation, the languages of the
member states become official languages of the whole organisation. 

It could be claimed that this linguistic diversity hampers the free market.
The ideal situation from a free market economy point of view would be that
all speak one language or that all speak all languages. The most recent
policy is that all should speak all languages, this is good for linguistic
diversity but does not really matter for regional or minority languages.
Since EU is a common market, if a member state wants to promote it's own
language, it risks infringing the common market. When it comes to the
labelling of products and the protection of the consumer, the European
Court of Justice has ruled that the label on the product only has to be
clear to the consumer, signs for instance could be used instead of languages. 

A problem concerning EU intervention is the article 6 that claims that EU
can't demand that a member state is more diverse than itself. Culture is
also competence of the member states. 

9. Presentation by Ms Marieke Sanders, Member of the European Parliament.


MEP Marieke Sanders said that one of the important tasks of the Inter-group
for Regional and Minority Languages in the European Parliament is to raise
awareness among fellow MEPs. She also noted that the discussion is quite
tense here in Greece when it comes to lesser-used languages. Sanders
stressed the importance of languages and said that being denied the right
to speak the language was social amputation. Governments should realise
what they do if they suppress lesser-used languages in the public domain.
The European Parliament can support linguistic diversity. The fact that
there is not any legal base for regional and minority languages is
outrageous, according to Sanders. She also pointed out that the European
Parliament has demanded special attention for lesser-used languages and
demand a follow up to the successful programme the European Year of
Languages 2001. Sanders mention the possibility of the EU to support
lesser-used languages through its budget, the parliament can help with
structural funds and allocate money for language teaching. The European
Parliament should keep lesser-used languages on the agenda. For Greece this
means that the European Parliament can help raise awareness. Sanders
stressed that linguistic diversity is an asset and a richness. 

10. Presentation by Ms Teresa Condeco, Administrator at the DG for
Education and Culture at the European Commission. 

Ms Condeco presented the Commission Working Document on the promotion of
language learning and linguistic diversity. The Commission Working Document
will be put soon on the official web site www.europa.eu.int and will
launch a public consultation on the promotion of language learning and
linguistic diversity.

Condeco also mentioned that the European Union action to promote language
learning through the Socrates and Leonardo da Vinci programmes alone is
worth around 35 millions euros every year. She added that whilst some
support is available from the Socrates and Leonardo da Vinci
programmes, it should be investigated whether they could play a greater
part in promoting linguistic diversity by the funding of projects to
improve the quality of teaching of these languages.
The commission is also investigating possibilities to find more funding
Leonardo da Vinci and Sokrates and the other programmes of the EU. Condeco
also explained how the Commission could support projects promoting
lesser-used languages and integrate the projects into their programmes. She
also said that the Commission would like to hear what the language
activists had to say and hoped that they would present proposals. Condeco
also mentioned the debate on the future programmes that are going on right
now. 

11. Presentation by Ms Regina Jensdottir, Administrator of the Charter for
Regional and Minority Languages at the Council of Europe.

Ms Regina Jensdottir gave a brief presentation of what the Council of
Europe can do for the promotion of regional and minority languages. She
mentioned the Framework Convention for the Protection of National
Minorities and the Charter for Regional and Minority Languages. The
Charter protects the historical regional and minority languages in Europe
that are different from the official languages of the state, it does not
include dialects nor the languages of immigrants. There is a risk that some
of these regional or minority languages may become extinct in the near
future. She underlined that the Charter is clear on the fact that regional
or minority languages should not be protected at the detriment of the
official language of the State. The Council of Europe is also encouraging
the use of regional and minority languages in the field education.

Comment by Gabriel von Toggenburg:

Gabriel von Toggenburg pointed out that article 22 is not a legal basis and
that there could never be a legal act based on this article, but there are
other articles that could function as a legal basis. He stressed that when
the EU is acting in other fields than culture it has to respect diversity.
Von Toggenburg also asked what happens after enlargement of the European
Union when the accession criteria disappear? Could a new mechanism {for
regional or minority language protection} be established?

Marieke Sanders answered that in the convention they strive to change the
decision-making on culture from unanimity to majority voting, but also
stressed that there are certain risks with majority voting as well.
Concerning the problems related to enlargement she answered that the debate
is still going on and there are no final proposals yet how to solve the
problem. 


12. Mr Tonkovic forwarded a greeting from the Federal Union of European
Nations.


13. Concluding remarks and thank you speeches by Mr Brezigar and Mr Parisis. 

Mr Brezigar and Mr Parisis stressed in their speeches of thanks the
importance of the conference for the promotion of lesser-used languages in
Greece. They both noted that the conference was well organised and thanked
the speakers and the participants for their valuable contribution.



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