Foreword

On 12 July 2000, I was appointed, together with Professor Jochen Frowein and Doctor Marcelino Oreja: "to deliver, on the basis of a thorough examination, a report covering the Austrian Government's commitment to the common European values, in particular concerning the rights of minorities, refugees and immigrants and the evolution of the political nature of FPÖ." This project, with all its controversial elements, became a unique exercise in the history of the European Union. It proved that the EU is not only an economic entity, and that shared principles, such as democracy, respect for human rights, and the rule of law are essential to future integration.

The measures taken by the 14 member States of the European Union against Austria raised awareness of the importance of common European values including minority rights, not only in Austria, but also in the other EU member States and candidate States. They also spurred efforts by the Austrian government and by civil society actors to defend fundamental rights. However, if continued, those measures would have become counter-productive and therefore had to be ended.

While it helped to resolve that political crisis, our report was aimed more broadly at facilitating discussions on minority rights and the means of preventing and remedying their violation. Our hope was that the EU would make clear that European standards apply equally to present and future member States, and that it would develop a mechanism for regularly monitoring conditions within the Union.

The EU accession process has sparked a number of positive changes in the candidate countries. The Open Society Institute's EU Accession Monitoring Program is producing in-depth reports on four issues of central importance to the political criteria relating to EU enlargement: minority protection, judicial independence, equal opportunities for women and men, and the elimination of corruption.

I am pleased to introduce the following series of reports about the protection of minorities in the ten EU candidate States in Central and Eastern Europe. I fully agree with the findings of the reports and their suggestion that the potential of the accession process as a catalyst for reform should be even better realized.

The EU has to articulate more clearly the standards that both candidate States and EU member States must meet to satisfy the political criteria with respect to minority protection. At the same time, candidate State governments must demonstrate their determination to the process by developing and implementing sound minority rights policies. Minorities and other representatives of civil society should be meaningfully engaged in the development, implementation and evaluation of these policies.

Ignoring minority protection is like ignoring a volcano. The tensions embedded in the political, cultural and economic lives of minorities are often obscured until an explosion thrusts them to the surface. Europe has an opportunity, through its integration process, constructively to address and ameliorate these dormant and dangerous tensions throughout the continent.

Martti Ahtisaari
President