"The Nineteenth century saw a great Springtime of Nations as the revolutions of 1848 saw new countries created the length and breadth of Europe. In our world today we are now seeing our own Spring Awakening with people and cultures that have long been dormant and subdued asserting their right to exist, their right to dream." Adam Price MP
Thursday 25 June 2009
National Minorities in Europe
National minorities have had their democratic rights trampled upon for too long. Here are some examples : Breton families deported to the South of France for speaking Breton; Welsh speakers denied their rights in courts and schools to speak the language of birth; Scottish landowners reduced to poverty as their lands were enclosed and clan tartans banished; Cornish nationalists scorned and the status of their Stannery Parliament denigrated; Basques prevented from asserting their cultural individuality; Irish people treated as second-class citizens in Ulster ...the list goes on. These peoples with their distinctive cultures, languages and traditions have for centuries been dominated and often subjugated by the major powers in the region, notably Britain, France, Spain and Italy. Yet they continue to survive and flourish and to resist the tide of uniformity which seeks to ethnic-cleanse their colourful character and cultural and linguistic diversity and uniqueness.
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