CYIL 2012

IVANA JELIĆ CYIL 3 ȍ2012Ȏ the Protection of National Minorities of the Council of Europe (2012 – 2016). She published her first monograph “Minority Rights” in Montenegro, concerning international minority rights protection, with special emphasis on SEE. Additionally, she has published two monographs and over forty papers in national, regional and international publications. 1. Multiculturalism as a Feature of the Contemporary International Community and Montenegro Primarily understood as a political and sociological phenomenon, and not as a legal concept, multiculturalism is a matter of sociological and political choices. It could be defined also as a social or political system in which different cultural groups or individuals belonging to these groups can live together, while preserving their cultural identity. Multiculturalism as a feature of contemporarity could also be described as the coexistence of different civilizations in the international community of sovereign states. It is estimated that the even previously huge number of persons belonging to national, ethnic and cultural minorities increased due to the dissolution of former socialistic federations – Soviet Union, Yugoslav and Czechoslovak federations. More than 60 million people, citizens of those federations, became members of ethnic/ national minorities, living outside their “home countries”. All in all, the number of persons belonging to ethnic, national, linguistic and cultural minorities reached 100 million people, according to the statistics by FUEN (Federal Union of European Nationalities) 1 . According to international legal authors, the status of ethnic minorities and other groups in international law has become a central issue due to the awakening of ethno-nationalism in many parts of the world, not only in the Balkans and the former Soviet Union. 2 From the standpoint of international law, and in line with contemporary trends of international political relations, multiculturalism encompasses the policies and practices to promote respect for cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity, in order to provide a living environment in which all the various groups and individuals belonging to them have the same rights and opportunities. In this sense, respect of diversity, the prohibition of assimilation, the prohibition of discrimination, and the implementation of the principle of integration are methods for establishing and maintaining multiculturalism. Most importantly, this is how human security would be fully achieved, regardless of background or personal characteristics. Consequently, those who are different would be encouraged to live together, not to live next to each other. 1 Devetak S.: „Razvoj zaštite manjina u Evropi s posebnim osvrtom na Sloveniju”, in book: Srbi u Sloveniji , Petrović V. (ed.), Beograd 1997, p. 43. 2 Malanczuk P.: Akehurst’s Modern Introduction to International Law – 7 th revised edition, ROUTLEDGE, London and New York, 1997, p. 105.

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