Federal Union of European Nationalities

Description

The Federal Union of European Nationalities, FUEN, is an umbrella organization representing national, ethnic and linguistic minorities in Europe. It was established in 1949, alongside the founding of the Council of Europe, growing out of the pre-war European Congress of Nations. It groups more than 100 member organizations from across Europe, with its headquarters in Flensburg, Germany, and offices in Berlin and Brussels.

FUEN represents the interests of European minorities at regional, national and European level. It works with the European Union, the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the United Nations, and holds consultative status at the UN and participatory status at the Council of Europe. It helped bring about the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

The organization runs six working groups covering different minority communities and an education working group, and holds an annual congress that gathers minority and language groups from across Europe. It coordinated the Minority SafePack European Citizens’ Initiative, which collected more than a million signatures. It also organizes conferences such as the Forum of Minority Regions and the Minority Media Forum, and the Europeada football tournament for minorities.