Међународни аспекти регулисања положаја и права националних мањина
International Aspects of Regulating the Position and Rights of National Minorities

Summary/Abstract: Respecting basic human rights and freedom, as well as national minority protection, represent the basic factors of stability, security and democratic and socio-economic development of every country. Contemporary geopolitical changes, inter-ethnic conflicts and clashes, the connection between minority and territorial problems, considerably influence the quality of inter-state relations and preservation of global peace and security. Therefore, the minority question is not exclusively the internal matter of one country any more, and direct and indirect inter-nation regulation of minority protection is becoming increasingly present. In international documents (OUN, OSCE and European Council), there are numerous regulations that refer to minority protection, but not compulsory, generally accepted international standards, nor universal rules that would regulate the status and rights of minorities. Some of these documents are legally binding for countries that have accepted them, while all others have a more moral-political significance, whereby countries have the possibility to interpret them differently and by their own will, and to fulfill the taken obligations, often depending on the political situation as well as the general balance of power in international relations. Although the minority question is regulated, directly or indirectly, in many UN documents, the general standpoint is that it is primarily a European problem and that the stability and security of the whole region largely depends on its solutions. Furthermore, minority protection does not only understand prohibition of discrimination, but also the creation of conditions for promoting position and guaranteeing rights to members of the minorities in maintaining their ethnic traits.

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