Content Type: Working Paper / Publishing Institution: European Centre for Minority Issues / Political Geography: Romania / Topic: Human Rights

Author:: Zora Popova
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:: Dispersed all over the territory of the continent, Roma constitute the largest ethnic minority in Europe, which according to the estimates consists of 10-12 million people. Present in almost every country in Europe and sharing some similar cultural features, Roma are often referred to as 'transnational'. The heterogeneity of the group even within the different national states and the lack of structural ties among the communities at national and international levels, challenges the appropriateness of any generalization of issues and large scale approaches to addressing them. At the same time, Roma communities all over Europe share low social status and identical challenges to their integration in mainstream societies, which constitutes them as a transnational marginalised group.
Topic:: Globalization, Human Rights, Regional Cooperation, Governance, and Minorities
Political Geography:: Europe and Romania

Author:: Monica Andriescu and Sergiu Gherghina
Publication Date:: 02-2013
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:: The processes of nation and state formation have been challenged in specific ways by the transitions in post-Communist Europe. The number of ethnic minorities, their territorial concentration and strength generated situations in which either state division was imminent (e.g. former Yugoslavia) or secession threats were latent. Many political actors transformed these situations into (personal or own group) advantages. Among the new democracies in which ethnicity could be considered a relevant societal division, Romania is an appealing case due to its developments over time. The violent clashes between the majority population and the Hungarian minority in 1990, in the aftermath of regime change, appeared to set the pace of the inter-ethnic relations after the regime change. In this context, the politicization of ethnicity to spawn national and ethnic solidarity in Romania was the logical consequence. How did this process influence the evolution of inter-ethnic relations in post-communist Romania?
Topic:: Human Rights, Governance, Law, and Minorities
Political Geography:: Europe and Romania

Author:: Christopher Decker and Roxana Ossain
Publication Date:: 07-2005
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:: The European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) and the Romanian Department of Inter-Ethnic Relations (DRI) organized the third event of the Improving Inter-Ethnic Relations through Enhanced Minority Governance Project on 16–17 March 2005 in Sinaia, Romania. The head and both deputy heads of the DRI attended the roundtable along with numerous members of the human rights/minority rights NGO community. Additionally, some members of national minority organizations attended. The fundamental purpose of the meeting was to provide civil society an opportunity to discuss the draft law with representatives of the Romanian Government and to offer suggestions to improve the draft. It was noted that this was the first time that civil society organizations national minorities have been able to have a forum to discuss a draft law before it was presented to parliament. This report seeks to provide an account of the discussions that took place during this meeting.
Topic:: Civil Society, Ethnic Conflict, and Human Rights
Political Geography:: Europe and Romania

Author:: Christopher Decker
Publication Date:: 03-2005
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:: ECMI organized the first event of the “Improving Inter-Ethnic Relations through Enhanced Minority Governance” project on 3 February 2005 in Bucharest, Romania. The deputy prime minister, the head of the Department for Inter-ethnic Relations and four members of parliament attended the meeting. ECMI and two experts met with the group in the Government Building to discuss the issues surrounding cultural autonomy and the draft law on the status of national minorities. The purpose of the meeting was to provide the government with information concerning the issue of cultural autonomy for the draft law on the status of national minorities, which is currently being drafted by the Hungarian Democratic Union from Romania (UDMR) and the other 18 national minority parties represented in the Chamber of Deputies. This report seeks to provide an account of the presentations and discussions that took place during this meeting, including the theory and practicalities of cultural autonomy and the model of cultural autonomy used in Estonia.
Topic:: Demographics, Government, and Human Rights
Political Geography:: Europe, Estonia, and Romania

Refine your search