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2025-12-01
ECMI Minorities Blog. Why Are Minority Children in Northern Greece Trapped in a Broken Education System?Aylin Kara Osman and Olgun Akbulut
This blogpost explores how Greece’s education system marginalises minority children (especially Pomaks) in Western Thrace. While Turkish is the only officially recognised minority language, all other linguistic identities, including Pomak, are excluded from institutional support. The result is a fragmented, underfunded education system that reinforces Turkification and leaves students linguistically ill-equipped for higher education in Greek. Based on field interviews, the authors reveal how outdated curricula, unmotivated staff, and structural neglect perpetuate inequality. Despite Pomak children expressing strong ties to their heritage, they are pressured to assimilate into a homogenised Turkish identity. The blog argues that Greece misapplies the Treaty of Lausanne by granting rights solely through a religious lens. To uphold true minority protection, the authors suggest modernising policies and legally recognising non-Turkish minority languages and cultures through European human rights standards.
2025-11-25
New Edited Volume on Minority-Language Media PublishedIn July 2025, a new and significant edited volume on minority-language media was released—a collaborative initiative led by the ECMI together with the University of the Basque Country. Published by Palgrave Macmillan/Springer Nature in the renowned Palgrave Studies in Minority Languages and Communities series, the book expands the existing research landscape with a rich variety of thematic and geographical perspectives.
2025-11-19
New publication by ECMI senior researcher Felix SchulteWe are excited to share a new publication by ECMI Senior Researcher Felix Schulte, Juris Pupcenoks (Marist University) and Māris Andžāns (Riga Stradins University/Center for Geopolitical Studies Riga).
The study “Cultural memory and the minority effect in (un-)willingness to fight for the country: Evidence from Russian speakers in Latvia”, published in the European Journal of International Security, shows that Russian speakers in Latvia are less willing the fight for Latvia than ethnic Latvians. The reason is divergent historical memories and narratives. Russian speakers display greater Soviet nostalgia and are less likely to perceive Russia as responsible for the war in Ukraine. This, in turn, reduces their willingness to fight for their country. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has brought defence capabilities into sharp focus. The study highlights a “minority effect” and the potentially very different perspectives of minority members about fighting for a state dominated by the majority population. This represents a crucial blind spot in current assessments of national resilience and defence preparedness.
2025-11-07
Workshop "Revitalising North Frisian: We don’t always have to reinvent the wheel"The ECMI recently hosted a workshop at which eminent experts presented innovative minority language revitalisation initiatives that are ongoing in the Basque Country (for Basque), Upper Lusatia (for Sorbian), and Fryslân (for West Frisian). These initiatives focus on three levels that are crucial for minority language revitalisation: society, community, and family. The presentations were followed by a round-table discussion about how these initiatives could be 'translated' into the North Frisian context. The workshop was attended by select stakeholders, practitioners, and academics from key organisations in the region. Representatives from all North Frisian islands as well as the mainland were in attendance. Showing that we don't always have to reinvent the wheel, the workshop provided inspiration for potential future endeavours to aid in the revitalisation of North Frisian.
