ECMI a Founding Member of New Minority Competence Network

In a further move to strengthen its integration within the German-Danish border region, the ECMI has participated as a founding member in the creation of the Minority Competence Network of Schleswig-Holstein and Southern Denmark. The Network has been spearheaded by the Commissioner for National Minority Affairs in Schleswig-Holstein, Johannes Callsen, as a project development forum for the entire German-Danish region. The Network will operate as an independently registered entity, and will propose projects and activities for supporting national minorities the Northern and Southern Schleswig area. The state of Schleswig-Holstein will provide initial funding for Network with perhaps other partners joining later on. 

The ECMI’s Director Vello Pettai attented the Network’s founding meeting on June 22, commenting afterwards, "The ECMI’s membership in this network is an important sign of our active presence in the German-Danish border region. Our goal is to contribute to the further development of this minority rights model via comparative knowledge about Europe as well as experience with action-oriented projects.”   

Besides the ECMI, other founding members include the European Academy Schleswig-Holstein,  the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) and the main umbrella organizations of the four national minorities in the region: Germans in Denmark (Bund Deutscher Nordschleswiger), Danes in Germany (Sydslesvigsk Forening eV), the Frisians in Germany (Friesenrat eV Section Nord), and the German Sinti and Roma (Verband Deutscher Sinti und Roma eV Landesverband Schleswig-Holstein)  

For more information please see the press release (in German) by the Schleswig-Holstein State Chancellery.