For the fourth time, the Austrian Parliament organized the “Dialog platform Autochthonian ethnic groups” for an exchange about the topics relevant to ethnic group. The National Council Presidium of Walter Rosenkranz, Peter Haubner and Doris Bures as well as Federal Council President Andrea Eder-Giftschthaler had the area spokesman: Inside the parliamentary factions and the chairpersons of the ethnic group advisory councils in the Federal Chancellery to promote and strengthen the connecting dialogue. A special focus of the discussions was to not only receive minority languages through a corresponding educational offer, but also to revitalize them.
After the opening words of National Council President Walter Rosary and greetings from parliamentary director Harald Dossi, linguist Brigitta Busch gave a review of the previous dialogue platforms.
The head of the legal, legislative and scientific service of the parliamentary directorate, Gerlinde Wagner stated in a specialist commentary on ethnic and minority protection law that the expansion of these rights had been expanded for decades. However, the last word in the question of its design has not yet been spoken.
Rosary: Language is an essential part of the identity
In his opening words, National Council President Walter Rosenkranz underlined the importance of language for identity formation. He quoted the Carinthian Slovenian writer Florjan Lipuš: “We are or are not with the language”. The focus of the previous dialogue was on language. The loss of languages is also a loss of cultural assets and identity. Last but not least, the parliament is to protect and promote language diversity in Austria. The National Council President referred to plans to create a joint school center for the recognized Austrian minority languages in Vienna. The implementation of the project within the framework of private school law is a special legistic challenge, said the National Council President. The Austrian parliament is ready for the continuation of the dialogue and the exchange.
Rosenkranz also gave an outlook on the focus of the program with ethnic group cover, which are planned for 2026 on the occasion of the anniversary “50 Years of the 1976 ethnic group”. Service 5 of the parliamentary directorate, the “democratic”, will focus on a special focus on a greater visibility of the Austrian ethnic groups. In particular, the Department 5.2 – Dialog platform State & Society will intensively take on this topic. A highlight of the events should again be the “Day of ethnic groups” in the second half of 2026. The parliamentary library will also expand your hand apparatus on the subject of ethnic groups.
Parliamentary director Harald Dossi referred to the role that the Austrian Parliament plays in networking and dialogue with the ethnic groups in his welcoming words. The dialog platform forms an addition of what is done in parliament for minority protection. As part of the focus of memory 80 | 70 | 30, the signing of the state contract in 1955 is also reminded. The important provisions contained therein should also be discussed for the Austrian ethnic groups.
Language preservation as the focus of the previous dialogue
Brigitta Busch, professor of applied linguistics IR at the University of Vienna, gave a brief overview of the dialogue platforms previously held. In 2022, the focus was on language and education. It was pointed out that in addition to the language preservation, the revitalization of minority languages is becoming an issue. In the second dialogue platform 2023, the national strategy for the inclusion of the Roma and Romnja was discussed. In addition, the situation of the Slovenian language in Carinthia and existing gaps in language education were discussed. In 2024, the importance of elementary pedagogy and pre -school education for language education was removed, in particular against the background that many members of the minority languages were no longer based in the original settlement areas.
A positive example is the successful example of the Komenský school in Vienna. The question had been raised whether it could be expanded into a school center for all languages of the Autochthonen Austrian ethnic groups. In addition to Czech and Slovak, this should also offer an offer for Slovenian, Hungarian, Burgenland -Croatian and novels.
Wagner: State target determination of ethnicity and minority protection
In a brief overview of some important questions of ethnic and minority protection law in Austria, the head of the legal, legislative and scientific service of the parliamentary directorate, Gerlinde Wagner. It referred to the importance of Article 8 paragraph 2: “The republic (federal government, countries and municipalities) is committed to its grown linguistic and cultural diversity, which is expressed in the autochthonous ethnic groups. Language and culture, existence and preservation of these ethnic groups are to be ensured and promote.”
The wording of the article, which became part of the Austrian Federal Constitution in 2000, was preceded by a long history of constitutional recognition and the legal design of ethnic group rights. Among other things, the letter and pipe bombings between 1993 and 1996 also led to a renewed examination of the protection and promotion of minorities in Austria. The Austrian parliament in particular discussed the question of enforcing minority rights. Another step in 2011 was the admission of provisions on topographical names (local boards) and the official language in the ethnic group law.
Article 8 (2) of the Federal Constitution represents a state target determination with which no subjective individual or collective rights are linked. However, the state goal determination also marks a clear difference to all minority protection regulations that exist. With him, a clear departure from the long -standing historical understanding of Austria was carried out as a “German nation state” and an commitment to a multi -ethnic state in the federal constitution was anchored. The state target determination refers to all parts of the federal area and to all languages of the autochthonous ethnic groups, i.e. in addition to Burgenland -Croatian, Slovenian and Hungarian also on Romanes, Slovak and Czech.
The purpose of state goals as part of the constitution is to determine framework conditions for political action, explained Wagner. They should be observed when issuing new laws and the interpretation of existing laws by courts and administrative authorities. However, it remains open how the two verbs “secure” and “promote” in Article 8 (2) B-VG. There are no indications of this in the explanations of the government template and the committee report from 2000.
State target regulations also have no obligation to create new legal regulations. Individuals would also have no way to act against the legislator’s idle. People’s group members also had no direct way to have a law, regulation or a decision on the agreement with Article 8 (2) B-VG checked. After the debates on minority rights in the 1990s, no constitutional majority for the introduction of such rights were ultimately found.
Can ethnic groups be dealt with legally unevenly?
The development of minority rights in Austria is shaped by the fact that individual rights for individual ethnic groups have been anchored again and again. There are fundamental minority rights that all ethnic groups come and that always affect the protection of minorities towards the majority population. However, there is no provision that would demand equality between all ethnic groups in certain areas. The Constitutional Court and Law have never commented on it. This is of particular importance in terms of education and school, since the constitution is regulated by the school question for members of the Croatian, Slovenian and Hungarian ethnic groups, primarily in connection to the traditional settlement areas.
According to Wagner, no final assessment can be made on the question of legal admissibility or non-allowance of unequal treatment of ethnic groups. On the one hand, it can also be argued with regard to the schools for equal treatment of all ethnic groups, since ethnic group advisory and funding had been created for all six ethnic groups. Furthermore, the federal constitution speaks undifferentiated of the securing and promotion of all ethnic groups.
On the other hand, arguments against equal treatment of all ethnic groups could also be derived from the federal constitution. This results from the fact that the constitutional legislator has decided to only provide the right to teach the members of individual ethnic groups the right to teach in the ethnic group language. The same applies to official languages and topographical names. It can therefore be argued that this is legal policy evaluations that lies in the (permissible) scope for design of the constitutional law. In any case, the development of minority protection regulations in the federal constitution shows that the last word has not yet been spoken in some questions. (Continued dialog platform) Sox
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