FEMP:s brev till regeringen och regeringens svarsbrev.

The Letter to the Swedish Government dated 27 July 1999

Brevet från FEMP daterat 27 juli 1999.

Prime Minister Göran Persson
The Government of Sweden
S-103 33 Stockholm
Sweden

In our organisation - European Federation of "Maison de Pays" FEMP - we are of the opinion that language is a decisive factor in maintaining cultural identity, pride, self-respect and common values among people. We are promoting the development of a multilingual Europe, which includes both minority and regional languages.

We have found that, contrary to many other states in Europe, Sweden has not yet signed and ratified the European "Charter on Regional or Minority Languages" of 1992. We understand that Sweden is now considering signing and ratifying the Charter.

It is with a considerable degree of surprise that we note that the government bill, recently presented to the Swedish Parliament, does not follow the intent of the said Charter. In the bill the Swedish Government is excluding the regional languages from the new multilingual policies to be implemented as a consequence of the adherence to the Charter. According to information provided by Stiftelsen Skånsk Framtid, we have been lead to understand that neither the Scanian nor the Gutnian (Gotland) languages (or any other regional languages in Sweden for that matter) are in any way or form recognised in the Bill now being presented to the Swedish Parliament.

FEMP is supporting the Scanian demands for recognition for the historic Scanian language. Our claim for recognition of regional languages is based on several conventions and international agreements supporting cultural group rights, of which the European "Charter on Regional or Minority Languages" is one.

By refusing to accept regional demands for recognition of cultures and languages, State Governments are contributing to the development of instability and conflicts within the European community. There are many examples of centralist intolerance in Europe creating frustrations among people in many regions. The Swedish Government should reconsider its decision to exclude regional languages from the protection that Sweden's adherence to the "Charter on Regional or Minority Languages" should provide.

Yours truly
Marcel Meaufront
FEMP

The reply from the Swedish Government dated 24 August 1999.
Svarsbrevet från den svenska regeringen, daterat 24 augusti 1999.

Federation Européen de Maison de Pays
General Delegate FEMP
Mr. Marcel Meaufront
11, Allé Dolce Farniente
06110 Le Cannet
France

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your letter directed to the Swedish Prime Minister, Göran Persson, in July 1999,

Issues concerning national minorities is handled by the Ministry of Culture and therefore your letter has been handed over to me since I am the Minister responsible for issues concerning national minorities.

I would like to inform you that the Swedish Government forwarded the Government Bill National minorities in Sweden to the Swedish Riksdag (the parliament) on the 15th of' June 1999. I enclose a short. summary of the Government Bill.

According to the definition, in the European Charter for regional and minority languages, a minority language should be different from the official language of the State. Furthermore thc definition of a minority language in thc Charter does not include dialects of the official language of the State. Scanian and the Gotlandic dialect which you are referring to in your letter are very similar to Swedish and are therefore considered dialects in Sweden. As a result Scanian and the Gotland dialect have not been treated as minority languages in the Government Bill National minorities in Sweden.

Nevertheless I believe that Scanian and the Gotland dialect as well as other dialects are valuable and that their continued preservation are important for the cultural heritage of Sweden. That is however, not an issue for the policy concerning national minorities.

Yours sincerely,
Signed
Ulrica Messing

Marcel Meaufronts kommentar till SSF om regeringens svarsbrev:
"The Swedish Government is showing the same "bad will" as, for example, the Italian Government. It is necessary to make more people aware of this problem in order to put pressures on the European state powers."

© SSF