Council of Europe calls on the Czech Republic to further support the use of minority languages
The Council of Europe has called on the Czech Republic to take further steps to expand the protections for and use of minority languages. The expert group reviewing the subject acknowledged that the Czech Republic has made progress on expanding German, but deficiencies remain for other minority languages in the country.
Those are the conclusions of an assessment report by experts monitoring the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages. The report found that in parts of the cities of Cheb, Český Krumlov, Karlovy Vary, Liberec, Opava, Sokolov, Svitavy and Ústí nad Labem, opportunities to use German were expanded, assessing that as positive.
According to the Committee of Experts, the number of educational offerings or media outlets in German is growing, and it will also be more possible to use German in contact with local authorities. The charter entered into effect in the Czech Republic in 2007.
Provisions of the charter in the Czech Republic apply to the dialect of Croatian spoken in Moravia and to German, Polish, Romanes and Slovak. The report states that so far it is only possible to use Polish as the main language of instruction in primary and secondary schools in regions with minority representation.
German is taught as a foreign language, while the other languages mentioned are not taught at all at that level. The Council of Europe recommends that the legal regulations also include minority language usage in the Czech courts in addition to interactions with administrative authorities.
According to the Council of Europe, the Czech Republic should also expand the amount of time during which radio and television programs are broadcast in Polish and introduce broadcasts in other minority languages. On the territories inhabited by Polish speakers the country should also add bilingual signage, which does not exist in all municipalities where this minority is represented.
The 10 % threshold of minority residents required to install such signage is problematic, according to the report, and is causing uncertainty in many municipalities. The Council of Europe was formed in 1949; it currently brings together 47 countries and is not a European Union institution.
The international organization monitors and supports cooperation among the countries of Europe in sectors such as combating all forms of discrimination, cultural protection, democratic development, environmental protection, harmonization of legal codes, and human rights protections.
