Revitalising the “CEI Instrument for the Protection of Minority Rights” elaborated in 1994; promoting the exchange of best practices; inviting the governments to consider the protection of minority rights as a fundamental peace tool. This is what the Parliamentarians of the 18 CEI Member States of the Central European Initiative (CEI) are calling for. They gathered today, on 27 April, in Bolzano in order to hold discussions about the fact that autonomy, minority rights and cultural heritage are instruments of peace among peoples. The meeting, promoted by Sen. Oskar Peterlini, President of the General Committee on Cultural Affairs of the CEI Parliamentary Dimension and of the Italian Parliamentary Delegation, was opened by the President of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, Luis Durnwalder.
The programme included interventions of Martha Stocker, Vice-President of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN), member of the Regional Government; Paulo Cardinal, Senior Legal Adviser, Macau Legislative Assembly; Alfredo Mantica, member of the Italian delegation to the CEI PD, former Italian Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs; Zaira Vidali, representative of the Slovenian minority in Italy; Ákos Horony, representative of Hungarian minority in Slovakia; Günther Rautz, Secretary General of the Minority Dailies Association; Francesco Palermo, Director of the Institute for Studies on Federalism and Regionalism, European Academy (EURAC). The meeting was also attended by CEI Deputy Secretary General, Zoran Jovanovic who addressed the participants recalling "the strong attention the CEI has always paid to promoting intercultural dialogue and respect of cultural diversity". Almost 2 million EUR for projects dedicated to intercultural cooperation and protection of minority rights have been granted so far by the CEI. Recalling in particular the "CEI Instrument for the Protection of Minority Rights", launched in 1994, the CEI Deputy Secretary General illustrated how the CEI overall action in this field aimed at supporting democratic management of differences and diversities in multicultural societies at regional level. Final Document For information: fabro@cei.int