The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) participated in events held in Brussels on the occasion of the European Day of Languages. Deniz Servantie from ABTTF Brussels Office attended the reception organised by the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN), of which ABTTF is a full member, on the evening of Tuesday, 23 September, and the event organised by the Intergroup on Traditional Minorities, National Communities and Languages of the European Parliament (EP) on Wednesday, 24 September.
Representatives of EU institutions and minority organisations attended the reception held at FUEN Brussels Office. FUEN President and MEP Loránt Vincze (EPP, Romania), MEP Anna-Maja Henriksson (Renew Europe, Finland) and Jens A. Christiansen, Chair of the European Dialogue Forum (EDF) at FUEN, underlined the importance of minority languages for a diverse and united Europe in their welcoming remarks at the reception.
The following day, at the event titled ‘‘Pillars of Diversity: Our linguistic heritage shapes Europe”, organised by the EP Intergroup on Traditional Minorities, National Communities and Languages of the on the 25th anniversary of the European Day of Languages, attention was drawn to the cultural, social and economic importance of Europe’s rich multilingual heritage.
In their keynote speeches at the event, EP First Vice-President Sabine Verheyen (EPP, Germany) and EP Intergroup on Traditional Minorities, National Communities and Languages Chair Loránt Vincze stressed that linguistic diversity is not a challenge to be overcome but a strength to be preserved and developed.
The panel session titled ‘‘Fitting minority languages into the European agenda: Do we matter?’’ held as part of the event discussed the EU’s projects on minority languages, the importance of strengthening the commitments under the Council of Europe’s treaties, and the value of embedding linguistic diversity into key EU programmes.
