As part of Germany’s chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2016, the High Commissioner on National Minorities has tasked the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) with conducting a study highlighting the abilities of diverse ethnic groups and   minorities (including national, linguistic, religious, cultural and similar) as bridge-builders and agents of reconciliation between states. More...

Vulnerable groups, including Roma, are the focus of the new initiative recently launched by the State Chancellery of Schleswig Holstein in cooperation with GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit). The project implementation partners are the ECMI (European Centre for Minority Issues) and FUEN (Federal Union of European Nationalities),  both of them actively involved in sharing Schleswig-Holstein’s experience to the target groups. The project aims to introduce the Schleswig-Holstein model to the local actors in the Western Balkans and to increase access of Roma to municipal services. The direct target group of the project are members of the (pro-) Roma NGOs and local governments in Serbia, Macedonia, BiH and Kosovo. More...

The “Union Ministry for Human and Minority Rights Support Initiative” (2004-2006) was a collaborative project of ECMI and the Danish Institute for Human Rights with the aim to enhance law reform, reporting and monitoring, and strategic planning capacities of the State Union Ministry of Human and Minority Rights of Serbia and Montenegro. More...

The "Enhancing Minority Governance in Romania" project at ECMI (2004-2005), was aimed at promoting interethnic understanding between the Romanian majority and its minority groups, as well as within these minority groups. It also endeavoured to clarify the status of national minorities under the conception of Romanian law. More...

The Montenegro Negotiation and Capacity-Building project aimed to engage political party representatives, government officials and civil society groups (NGOs) in dialogue, while placing the particular emphasis on establishing a Track II process with broader civil society involvement. In this way, it was hoped that the process of dialogue could function even when official government contacts were difficult or impossible. More...

The ECMI Moldova Project (2003-2006) was aimed at the encouragement of an informed dialogue among local experts and government policy makers, as well as to provide constitutional design expertise and negotiation experience from the expert community to the Moldovan members of the Constitutional Commission. More...

a. Current ECMI activities in Kosovo
ECMI Kosovo aims to develop inclusive, community sensitive institutions that support a stable multiethnic Kosovo.

• http://www.ecmikosovo.org

b. Further ECMI activities in Kosovo
The ECMI Kosovo/a Civil Society Project (2001-2005) initiated a standing interethnic forum where public policy was evaluated and alternative recommendations were devised. More...

The project Forced Migrants in Kaliningrad aimed to contribute to the development of civil society in Kaliningrad region by enhancing the understanding of issues surrounding migrants and national minorities and their integration into society and participation in public life. More...

a. Current ECMI Caucasus activities aim to improve the competencies of minority organizations and to assist governments in building institutional capacities to develop and implement policies on national minority issues.

• http://www.ecmicaucasus.org

b. Previous ECMI Georgia projects aimed towards building stable and inclusive democracy in Georgia. More...

The project EU Accession and National Integration in Estonia and Latvia (2001-2002) assisted international and regional organizations such as the OSCE and the European Union in their efforts to facilitate and secure the process of national integration in Estonia and Latvia in order to avoid interethnic relations from derailing the democratic process in these countries during their EU accession process. More...