When ethnicity is “national”: mapping ethnic minorities in Europe’s framework convention for the protection of national minorities

Figures & data

Table 1. Groups identified by each country in their FCNM state reports by cultural traits (in order of accession to the EU)^a.

Country (1st state report)	Joined the EU	Religious groups	Ethnic / national groups	Linguistic groups	Comments
Belgium	1957				FCNM NOT RATIFIED
France	1957				FCNM NOT SIGNED
Germany (2000)	1957		Danes, Sorbian people, German Sinti and Roma, Frisians		*According to state reports the Jewish Community do not consider themselves a “minority”, but a religious community
Italy (1999)	1957			German, Albanian, Greek, Slovenian and Croat, Franco-Provençal, French, Occitan, Catalan, Ladin, Sardinian and Friulian	* Roma, Sinti and Travellers were added from 2004 onwards in reports at the request of the CoE, but have not been recognized as a “national minority”
Luxembourg	1957				FCNM NOT RATIFIED
Netherlands (2008)	1957		Frisians	Frisians, Low Saxon, Limburgish, Yiddish and Romany*	*Yiddish and Romany are considered “non-territorial languages”, only Frisians are seen as national minority
UK (1971)	1973–2020	Muslim and Jewish communities mentioned in the working group to Tackle Antisemitism and AntiMuslim Hatred	Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Communities were added upon request of the Advisory Committee	Welsh, Gaelic, Irish and Cornish (the last two added upon request of the Advisory Committee)	Based on the Race Relations Act (1976). Definition of racial group: “a group of persons defined by color, race, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origins” applied inclusively
Ireland (1999)	1973		Travellers	Irish language	*Travellers are recognized as an indigenous minority, while Roma have been added to reports from 2006 onwards
Denmark (1999)	1973		Germans*	German	*Reservation that limits to the German minority in South Jutland
Greece	1981				FCNM NOT RATIFIED
Portugal (1999)	1986		Roma added in 2007 in response to the AC’s request (but not recognized as national)	Mirandês mentioned as “dialect”	No policy on “national minorities” as the concept is unknown in the legal system
Spain (2000)	1986		Roma* (not legally but de facto recognized as an ethnic minority)		*While the Constitution does not formally recognize or define ethnic minorities, it acknowledges that Roma see themselves as one
Austria (2000)	1995		Croats, Slovenians, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Roma		Adopts its Law on Ethnic Groups 396/1976 to identify nat. min.
Finland (1999)	1995		Sami people, Roma, Jews, Tatars	Old Russians, Swedish-speaking Finns
Sweden (2001)	1995		Sami*, Swedish Finns, Tornedalers, Roma, Jews		*Sami are also recognized as an indigenous people. A number of religious minorities are acknowledged but do not constitute “national minorities”
Cyprus (1999)	2004		Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriote, Armenians, Maronites, Latins, others (foreign nationals)
Czech Republic (1999)	2004		Belarusian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Hungarian, German, Polish, Roma, Rusyn, Russian, Greek, Slovak, Serbian, Ukrainian and Vietnamese + Czechs, Jewish		14 national minorities recognized by Law 273/2001, but the census on “National Identity and Mother Tongues’ also includes Jews. It is the only MS to include a minority of migrant origin (Vietnamese)
Estonia (1999)	2004		Estonians, Russians, Ukrainians, Finns, Jews, Tartars, Germans, Latvians, Poles, Lithuanians, others		Persons with undetermined citizenship went from 32% in 1992–5% in 2018. Roma were added from 2004 at request by AC
Hungary (1998)	2004		Bulgarians, Roma (Gypsies), Greeks, Croatians, Poles, Germans, Armenians, Romanians, Ruthenians, Serbians, Slovakians, Slovenians, and Ukrainians		*The terms in reference to the Roma minority has slowly shifted away from the use of the term “Gypsies”
Latvia (2006)	2004	32 religions recognized among which Jewish and Muslim	Latvians, Russians, Polish, German, Ukrainian, Jewish, Roma (Gypsies is the first reports), Lithuanian, Estonian, Belarusian, others	Russian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Estonian, Lithuanian and Hebrew	Latvia’s population by ethnicity is divided in “citizens”, “non-citizens” and “foreigners/ stateless”
Lithuania (2001)	2004		Lithuanians, Russians, Polish, Jewish, Belarussians, Karaite, Tartar, Roma*, German, Ukrainians, other		*Roma were labeled “Gypsies” in the first reports
Malta (1999)	2004				No groups are recognized as national minorities
Poland (1999)	2004		Karaites, Roma (Gypsies), Lemks, Tatars, Ukrainians, Jewish (divided in Yiddish and Hebrew) Belarrusians, Czechs, Lithuanians Germans, Armenians, Russians, Slovaks, Polish diaspora	Kashubians	13 “national and ethnic minorities” + 1 linguistic minority. Territoriality element (Jews and Roma mainly dispersed). Poland recognizes Poles abroad as a national minority
Slovak Republic (1999)	2004		Slovak, Hungarian, Romany, Bohemian, Ruthenian, Ukrainian, German, Moravian, Silesian, Croatian, Jewish, Polish, Bulgarian (“nationalities”)
Slovenia (2000)	2004		Italians, Hungarians, Roma, Austrians, Germans, Jews, Croats, Serbs, Albanians, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Muslims*, Yugoslavs		*The ethnic category of “Muslims”, introduced by the Yugoslav censuses after the second world war, comprises people from the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who now usually declare themselves as Bosnians.
Bulgaria (2003)	2007	Eastern-Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Sunni Muslim, Shiite Muslim (Alawites), Judaism, Armenian-Gregorian	Bulgarian, Turkish, Roma, Tatar, Jewish, Armenian, Circassian, Gagaouz, others	Bulgarian, Turkish, Roma, others
Romania (1999)	2007	Orthodox, Catholic, Reformed, Greek Orthodox, Pentecostal, Baptist, Adventist, Unitarian, Moslem, Evangelical, Old-Rite Christian, Old-Style Orthodox, Synodal Presbyterian Evangelical	Magyar & Szekel, German, Swabian and Saxon, Ukrainian, Russian – Lipoveni, Roma (Gypsy)*, Turkish, Serbian, Tatar, Slovakian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Polish, Greek, Armenian, Jewish		*1856 abolition of slavery of Roma. Special section dedicated to Roma inclusion policies
Croatia (1999)	2013		Italians, Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, Ruthenians and Ukrainians, Serbs, Germans and Austrians, Jews, Slovenes, Albanians, Moslems, Romanies, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Others	Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Slovenian, Albanian, Czech, Hungarian, Romany, Ruthenian, Slovakian, Italian, Ukrainian	*The state report emphasizes that many Romanies stated “nationality other than Romany”. Muslims are identified in ethnic terms, not religious

^a The terminology used in the table is the literal one used in the English version of the state reports. Inconsistencies regarding a same minority appearing as “Moslem” in the case of Romania and as “Muslim” in the case of Bulgaria, for example, should therefore be attributed to the choice to represent the categorizations of each minority as they appear in the original documents.