Protecting Minorities and Safeguarding Cultural Diversity in Europe: An Inalienable Right?

Abstract

The intensification of migratory flows has made Europe a space with real cultural, religious, and linguistic diversity, which has become a characteristic of European society, which reveals a European identity based on diversity, tolerance, and inclusiveness. It is in this context that the question of rights belonging to minorities arises: can we say that there are effective and autonomous measures in Europe to combat discrimination based on reasons of ethnic origin, language, and religion? In view of the conventional obligations that support the existence of a right to equality as one of the structuring principles of the democratic and social rule of law, which assists all individuals who do not want to be discriminated against in the communities where they are located, we find signs of ambiguity. In this context, this work aims to analyze the responses of the international regional system for the protection of human rights and the European Union system for the preservation of the cultural diversity that characterizes us, because in fact minorities are already part of us. However, while European integration is committed to combating discrimination, we must recognize that minority issues have not yet been incorporated by the EU Member States.