European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages

Among the fundamental aims of the Council of Europe today are the protection and promotion of the wealth and diversity of Europe’s cultural heritage. Regional or minority languages are very much part of this heritage. Since 1992, Council of Europe’s Member States have been able to confirm their commitment to the protection of this heritage by ratifying the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

The Charter, drawn up on the basis of a text put forward by the Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, was adopted as a convention on 25 June 1992 by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and was opened for signature in Strasbourg on 5 November 1992. It entered into force on 1 March 1998.

At present, the Charter has been ratified by twenty-five states (Armenia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom). Another eight states have signed it, some of which are expected to ratify soon.

• Primary Source

Wikipedia: European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Charter_for_Regional_or_Minority_Languages

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