2025 Summer School on National Minorities Contested Loyalties: Kin-State Influence and Minority Rights in Europe

The Annual Summer School ‘National Minorities and Border Regions’ is a joint initiative of Coppieters Foundation and the ECMI (European Centre for Minority Issues).

The goal of this edition of the summer school was to critically examine and analyze kin-state policies and their effects on national minorities and communities. It aimed to train young academics and practitioners, providing them with a safe space for networking, discussing, and reflecting on the dynamics and outcomes of kin-state policies towards minority groups in Europe. The event fostered a two-way exchange of knowledge between academics, students, and practitioners, encouraging future collaboration and research.

The focus on kin-state policies arises from their significant impact on minority rights and international relations across Europe. Most European states today are diverse: culturally, linguistically, and religiously, often hosting communities who share cultural identity with titular groups in other states. These groups, often referred to, in the academia, as kin minorities, have historically been affected by border changes, empire dissolutions, and shifting state sovereignty, particularly in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. The study of kin-state policies reveals both the potential for cultural support and cooperation, as seen in Denmark’s support for the Danish minority in Germany, and risks of political instrumentalization and tensions. Analyzing these policies through the lens of trust, inclusion, and minority rights protection can reveal effective strategies for fostering mutual respect and coexistence in diverse societies, while also identifying challenges and risks of misuse in the future.

TOPICS & SPEAKERS:

• Power dynamics in inter-state minority relations and their historical contexts
• The securitization and politicization of minority identities
• Kin-states as cultural and political actors
• The EU’s role in mediating kin-state policies and minority rights
• The impact of minority language media on cross-border relations
• Emerging digital threats, misinformation, and the use of online spaces in kin-state strategies
• Challenges faced by stateless minorities and those without kin-state support
• Cultural autonomy as a framework for minority empowerment and self-governance

The programme consisted of lectures, seminars and workshops given by ECMI research staff and expert guest lecturers, including:

• Francesco Palermo (Institute for Comparative Federalism, Eurac research)
• Riina Kionka (EU Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan)
• Karolina Lendák-Kabók (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
• Natalie Sabanadze (Chatham House, The Royal Institute of International Affairs)
• Elżbieta Kuzborska-Pacha (OSCE HCNM Office)
• Elisabeth Alber (Eurac research)
• and more.

PLANNED ACTIVITIES:

The programme  combined traditional and non-formal educational methods, interactive sessions and networking activities and thus inspired the participants to engage with the topics of the course critically and from different perspectives and disciplinary approaches.

Our schedule included:

• Lectures and seminars by experts in the field of minority rights, minority issues, and kin-state policies.
• Interactive workshops, world cafés, and discussion sessions for immersive learning experiences.
• Exclusive networking with local stakeholders, enhancing practical understanding through real-world examples.
• A field visit to Narva, Estonia with significant Russian-speaking community.
• An array of social events to enhance the learning experience and foster connections.

. . .

This event was financially supported by the European Parliament. The European Parliament is not liable for the content of the event nor the opinions of the speakers.

. . .

This Summer School is a joint initiative of Coppieters Foundation and ECMI .

. . .

Thank you for following our activities over the past few years. We hope our updates have been useful to you. We would like to keep informing you about upcoming events, new publications, summer schools, and job vacancies. Subscribe to our newsletter to hear from us in your inbox.