"A number of minorities living in Europe have the right to use their mother tongue not only in their private life but in conducting official affairs", state secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Istvan Mikola said at a conference focusing on the Council of Europe's charter on regional and minority languages.
Protecting the right of minorities to use their mother tongue helps to promote diversity and culture in Europe, he stressed. Mikola said steps must be taken to ensure that all minorities on the continent can exercise these rights, MTI reported.
Claudia Luciani, the CoE's director for democratic governance and anti-discrimination, said Hungary had a vested interest in signing the CoE charter 25 years before, and the country has ever since been working towards ensuring the protection of minority rights. Europe must remain a multilingual and a multicultural community, she said, adding that the use of a state language must not exclude the possibility of using a minority language. "Minority languages must not be seen as an enemy," she said.
