ECMI-EURAC Study Group on “National and Ethnic Minorities in the Russian Federation”

The complex processes of state transition and the adaptation by the Russian Federation to the European minority rights regime, pose challenges to European policy-makers, practitioners, monitors and academics alike. The application of non-territorial autonomy, language rights, as well as general implementation obstacles, cloud the horizon of how to achieve honourable accommodation of national and ethnic minorities in the Russian Federation. In an endeavour to improve the legal, political and social knowledge about minority rights and minority issues in Russia, the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) and the European Academy (EURAC) have created a Study Group on “Minorities in Russia.”

Aims and Objectives:

The Study Group aims to generate policy-relevant knowledge about the challenges of accommodating the expression of ethnic diversity in the Russian Federation in accordance with the Council of Europe’s standards of minority protection and promotion. This knowledge will inform various policy efforts aimed at strengthening governance and legal provisions for minorities.  This will support both minority identity (language, culture, education) and effective minority participation in cultural, economic, and social life and in public affairs. The Group will also provide policy recommendations on ways and means of managing ethnic diversity in the context of the state and federal structure, regional development and devolution. The overall goal is to support the Council of Europe/EU programme “Minorities in Russia” (2009-2011) with academic background research and analyses, as well as providing practical tools for the Council of Europe’s monitoring mechanisms on national minority rights (FCNM and the Language Charter).

Activities:

ECMI and EURAC are planning to hold two intensive researcher workshops involving relevant scholars from the EU and Russia and a final dissemination conference in Strasbourg. The first workshop took place on 12 April 2010 in Flensburg and focused on four thematic sections:

• Legal provisions for minorities
• Identity of minorities
• Ethnic federalism and minority governance
• Political participation and representation

The overall objective of this first workshop of the Study Group was to analyze which status the above-mentioned issues have in contemporary Russia, and in particular, in political everyday practice. The experts involved in the Study Group, who come from different academic and professional environments, discussed these crucial questions from the legal, sociological, anthropological and political science perspectives.

A subsequent workshop will be held at the European Academy of Bolzano/Bozen in autumn 2010.  It will predominantly serve to continue the discussions from the first workshop in such a way that final conclusions on the four respective topics can be elaborated.

A final dissemination conference will be held in Strasbourg in 2011, targeting political decision makers, practitioners, monitors and minority representatives.  This event will be used to familiarize the public with the Study Group’s findings and research results. Thereby, the dissemination conference will have a multiplier effect and will contribute to raising awareness and understanding of the challenges of Russian diversity, its cultural framing and legal-political institutionalization.