FAQ - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Eurominority and www.eurominority.eu
• What is Eurominority?
• What information is found on www.eurominority.eu?
• What connections are there between Eurominority and European institutions?
• How is Eurominority financed?

Stateless Nations and National minorities
• What is the definition of "Stateless Nation" and "national
minority"?
• How is the list of the minorities on www.eurominority.eu compiled?
• Why don't areas of Europe which can be regarded as Stateless Nations or national minorities appear on www.eurominority.eu?
• Why don't non-native minorities (or minorities resulting from immigration) appear on www.eurominority.eu?
• What are the borders of Europe according to Eurominority?

Languages on www.eurominority.eu
• How is the list of the languages on www.eurominority.eu compiled?
• Why isn't www.eurominority.eu translated into my language?
• Why is it obligatory to write messages in English in the forum?
• Why is it obligatory to write e-mails in German, English,
Breton or French?

Other questions and members
• I wish to go on a training course or to submit an application to Eurominority.
• I am searching for information which is not available on www.eurominority.eu.
• I wish to propose a link to my website.
• I wish to order a book described on www.eurominority.eu.
• What connections does Eurominority have to separatist political parties?
• How to become a member.

• What is Eurominority? [top of the page]
Eurominority represents the initials of the Organization for the European Minorities. The aim of this association is the promotion of the Stateless Nations and national minorities of Europe. Its activities involve research and information. Eurominority is a lightly-structured body whose organization comprises a network of correspondents using the Internet as a medium for communication.

• What information is found on www.eurominority.eu? [top of the page]
www.eurominority.eu is the website of Eurominority. Information available consists of a brief presentation of all the European minorities and various resources.

• What connections are there between Eurominority and European institutions? [top of the page]
Eurominority does not have any connections with European institutions, such as the European Union, the Council of Europe or any other organization financed by public funds. Eurominority is based on the work of many associations promoting minority languages and rights of the minorities.

• How is Eurominority financed? [top of the page]
Eurominority is financed exclusively by private funds and does not profit from any government aid. That allows for complete editorial independence within legal boundaries.

• What is the definition of "Stateless Nations" and "national minorities"? [top of the page]
A "Stateless nation" is synonymous with a nation which does not have the benefit of real official structures. It is thus generally in a minority situation and can be defined as a "national minority". The expression "national minority" corresponds to a group of people which meets the following minimum criteria:
- cultural factors (language, religion, history, use...),
- space structures (territory),
- a social identity (feeling of membership).

• How is the list of the minorities on www.eurominority.eu compiled? [top of the page]
Eurominority drew up the list of the minorities with reference to the definition that it gives some [See the definition]. On the other hand regions of the European States are not included (e.g. Cantabria, Normandy, Lombardy...), subsets of the national minorities (e.g. Provence in Occitania, Valencian Communauty in Catalan Countries...), minority languages speakers not having specific areas (e.g. alemanic, francic...). Due to the frequency of this question, we cannot answer it by e-mail.

• Why don't areas of Europe which can be regarded as Stateless Nations or national minorities appear on www.eurominority.eu? [top of the page]
We receive a lot of requests from Net surfers regarding their areas being a Stateless Nation or a national minority. Eurominority is limited to those minorities which have always been regarded as such by the scientific community (linguists, ethnologists, sociologists...). It is undeniable that each area of Europe has its own history, habits and traditions.... That does not mean that it is a Stateless Nation or a national minority. Due to the frequency of this question, we cannot answer it by e-mail.

• Why don't non-native minorities (or minorities resulting from immigration) appear on www.eurominority.eu? [top of the page]
Eurominority only studies national minorities (or minorities known as native people). We do not study the situation of non-native minorities (or minorities resulting from immigration) (Maghrebians in France, Turks in Germany or Indians and Pakistanis in the United Kingdom...). We do not study the subject of religious minorities (Moslems, Jews...) or other types of minorities (homosexuals, lesbians...). There is a French site which pertains to these
(www.minorites.org).

• What are the borders of Europe according to Eurominority? [top of the page]
Eurominority carries out its research on the area of geographical Europe (and beyond), also encompassing the Urals (the European part of Russia), the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaidjan, Georgia included) and including Turkey.

• How is the list of languages on www.eurominority.eu compiled? [top of the page]
Eurominority drew up the list of languages with reference the work of the scientific community (linguists, ethnologists, sociologists...). Its list of minority languages is compiled from the work of the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages.
[www.eblul.org]

• Why isn't www.eurominority.eu translated into my language? [top of the page]
Eurominority is based on a network of translators. If you would like our website to be translated into your language as well and feel able to undertake the work, contact us.

• Why is it obligatory to write messages in English in the forum? [top of the page]
In order to enable the fullest understanding of forum conversations, it was selected as the second language most commonly spoken by Net surfers. In spite of the arbitrary aspect of this decision (and paradoxical for a website studing amongst other things minority languages), it is not technically possible (and taking into account our financial and human means) to have the forum in other languages. In order to avoid any problem arising from the use of a particular language to our moderator, any message posted in our forum in a language other than English is systematically deleted.

• Why is it obligatory to write e-mails in Breton, English, French or German? [top of the page]
These are the only four languages understood by the administrator of the website. Thank you for your understanding.

• I wish to go on a training course or to submit an application to Eurominority. [top of the page]
Eurominority is a lightly-structured body and does not have permanent staff and office space, and thus is not able to receive trainees or collaborators.

• I am searching for information which is not available on www.eurominority.eu. [top of the page]
Unfortunately we are unable to answer requests for information on national minorities other than that available on our website, due to lack of time and means. [Please visit our links' portal to find other websites relating to minorities issues]

• I wish to propose a link to my website. [top of the page]
We do not answer requests for exchanges of links, due to lack of time. We invite you however to use our links' portal to add your website. In order to do so, you will need to create your own account. [Click here to access to our links' portal]

• I wish to order a book described on www.eurominority.eu. [top of the page]
Eurominority itself does not sell the books introduced on this website. We provide you with the necessary information to find books related to minority issues on the Internet. We recommend that you consult sales websites such as Amazon.com or conduct a search using Google.com engine.

• What connections does Eurominority have to separatist political parties? [top of the page]
Eurominority is an apolitical association, based on regard for humans rights, and works in a humanistic spirit. We haven't direct relationships with any political parties.

• How to become a member? [top of the page]
To become a member and a correspondent, please register, first reading the instructions. [Click here to become a member]