For OSCE the protection of national minorities is a political matter

The conclusion was drawn by the participants of a lecture organized on December 1st within the framework of the project entitled „Improvement of the knowledge of human rights in international and European law”.

The mechanism of cooperation between the countries within the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is based on a belief that if a consensus can be reached between all members of the organization it will ensure peace and safety and that imposing restrictions is ineffective in practice.

In recognition of this fact, OSCE decided to relate the protection of human rights to issues concerning the international cooperation, regional security, economical and partnership relations. The documents issued by OSCE – soft laws – have only a political dimension, but they are very important in practice. The violation of these obligations is unacceptable and equivalent to violation of the international law.

The participants of the meeting have analyzed the OSCE documents concerning the rights of national minorities – among others The Bosen Recommendations on National Minorities in Inter-State Relations, The Hague Recommendations Regarding the Education Rights of National Minorities. It was underlined that within their frameworks the rights of national minorities had been closely related to the obligations of the state. It was also noticed that the international society plays a tremendous part when it comes to the protection of the representatives of national minority and that the states have to cooperate in this respect.

The organizer of the lectures – Polish Association of Lawyers in Lithuania in cooperation with the European Foundation of Human Rights – invites everyone to the subsequent meetings concerning human rights and also specifically rights of national minorities. The meetings are free and open for everybody.

Kurier Wileński