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CoE: 20-percent Threshold for Use of Minority Languages Is Too High
Friday 05 March 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, March 5 (TASR) - The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe is unhappy with the requirement that states that ethnic minorities living within a certain area in Slovakia must make up at least 20 percent of the population in order to have the right to use their own language in official contacts, TASR learnt on Friday.
The Committee pointed out that inhabitants of villages with large numbers of ethnic-minority members that don't reach the threshold aren't allowed to use their language in official contacts. This is at odds with the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, said the Committee, calling for Slovak bodies to reconsider the threshold.
The report on the second round of inspections of Charter implementation in Slovakia further states that Slovakia should ensure the teaching of all minority languages at all relevant levels and inform parents about their availability. The committee also recommended improving the accessibility of public-service television and radio broadcasting in all minority languages, and supporting private minority-language broadcasting. Private television channels are being discouraged from broadcasting in minority languages by the legal obligation of providing Slovak subtitles, claimed the Committee.
The Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry replied that the amendment to the State Language Act that was approved last year did away with the provision for live regional and local broadcasts.
According to the Committee, Slovakia should also support the issuing of newspapers in minority languages. The Slovak ministry replied that this is possible via grant programmes run by the Culture Ministry and the Government Office.
The document was approved by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on November 28, 2009.
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