Abstract
The research aims at presenting and exploring the mechanisms for protection of the rights of national minorities (based on the example of Ukrainian minority) in the Warmia and Mazury Region of the Republic of Poland. The research hypothesis is based on the statement that in fact the protection of rights of national minorities at the level of the Warmia and Mazury Region could be treated as a model, and thus implemented in other regions in Poland, or even in other countries facing the problems related to the protection of national and ethnic minorities. The main research problems are addressed within the questions: how is Ukrainian minority distributed in the studied region?; What are the state and local government institutions working for national minorities in the studied region of Poland?; What activities do these institutions undertake to ensure equal treatment of national minorities and provision for their rights?; How are these activities assessed by organizations/representatives of the Ukrainian national minority? The leading research method was the institutional and legal one. The research also contained the interviewing method as well as the focus group interview. Obtained results of the study confirmed the research hypothesis. It turned out that the Warmia and Mazury Region has created an effective institutional environment for the development of national minorities, including the Ukrainian one. It was possible thanks to the activity of the only Polish Plenipotentiary of the Marshal for national minorities and also the only National and Ethnic Minorities Committee of the Regional Council in Poland.
Highlights
Lithuanian, German, Armenian, Russian, Slovak, Ukrainian, Jewish. This law defines the concept of ethnic minorities, which includes a group of Polish citizens who meets the same conditions as a national minority, except the last condition, because the ethnic minority does not identify with a nation organized in its own state
The main research problems included questions: How is the Ukrainian national minority distributed in the studied region? What are the historical features of its development? What are the main forms of activity/communication used by the Ukrainian national minority in the Warmia and Mazury Region at the present stage of its development? What problems does it face and what are the possible ways of solving them? What are state and local government institutions working for national minorities in the studied region of Poland? What activities do these institutions undertake to ensure equal treatment of national minorities and provision for their rights? How are these activities assessed by organizations/representatives of the Ukrainian national minority?
One can conclude that there is a noticeable decrease in the number of students for whom schools undertake tasks aimed at maintaining the national and linguistic identity of students belonging to the Ukrainian national minority. Another problem that appears in teaching Ukrainian is whether and to what extent economic migrants arriving from Ukraine to Poland, including the Warmia and Mazury Region, will be interested in their children being taught Ukrainian, as this may possibly contribute to the increase in the number of students covered by learning this language
Summary
In 1918, after Poland regained independence, Poles constituted only 68% of all citizens; Jews, Germans, Ukrainians and Belarusians constituted several million national minority groups with their own cultural, social and political life. The borders of the Polish state which lost 1/3 of their territory in the east, changed, moving west within the borders from the Oder to the Bug. According to the regulations, the Belarusian, Lithuanian and Ukrainian minorities had no right to repatriation, with the exception of the Jewish population. Lithuanian, German, Armenian, Russian, Slovak, Ukrainian, Jewish This law defines the concept of ethnic minorities, which includes a group of Polish citizens who meets the same conditions as a national minority, except the last condition, because the ethnic minority does not identify with a nation organized in its own state. Possible to identify the peculiarities, characteristics, legal principles and effectiveness of the work of the main state institutions in the field of securing the rights of national minorities, the Ukrainian national minority, at the level of the Warmia and Mazury Region
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