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The STUDIA UNIVERSITATIS BABEŞ-BOLYAI issue article summary
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Abstract: There is no state in Europe with ethnically or religiously homogenous population. The only states that come close to a ‘nation-state’ (defined as the state inhabited by citizens with the same unique ethnic background) are Iceland, Portugal and Hungary. Starting from this premise, we can say that the issue of national and ethnic minorities asks for special attention in each state (depending, of course, on the size of the minority), but also from pan-continental, supra-state institutions and organizations, that influence and shape the activity of national governments. In spite of these aspects, there are no particular communitarian policy regulations for this issue in the EU, as it is the case with agricultural, environmental or monetary regulations.
However, the issue of national minorities is not being disregarded by European institutions. The European Community has created special mechanisms through which they shape the behavior of states in relation to national minorities or ethnic groups on their territory. In this area state and inter-state policies, the EU joined forces with other Euro-Atlantic institutions such as NATO, OSCE or the Council of Europe, all of them using either “the stick” or “the carrot” strategy in a joint effort to prevent any kind of abuse of a state over minorities on its territory, especially in the context of the war in Yugoslavia, in the 1990’s. Communication plays a crucial role in the process of shaping behavior at political level and determines relevant outcomes as we show in our text. |
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