Enhancing public participation of ethnic minorities at the local level

On 20 January, the University of Milan hosted the conference “Enhancing Public Participation of Ethnic Minorities at the Local Level: Legislative Responses and Policy Strategies Amid Persistent Challenges.” The event brought together leading scholars and practitioners to explore how institutions can strengthen the participation of ethnic minorities in public life, particularly in contexts marked by social and political tensions

In the first session, “Ethnic Minorities and Public Participation in Contemporary Divided Societies,” Roberta Medda-Windischer presented “Participation of Minorities in Political Life: Navigating Between Securitisation and Recognition.” Her contribution examined minority participation in political life through the lens of European human rights law, with particular emphasis on the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM). She explored the tension between securitisation and recognition, situating minority participation within a “double-track” system of international protection that seeks both to preserve minority identity and to address state security concerns. Focusing on Article 15 of the FCNM—the first binding international norm requiring states to create conditions for the effective participation of minorities in public affairs—she analysed key dimensions such as consultation, electoral systems, and self-governance. Drawing on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, she discussed advisory bodies, decentralisation, electoral accommodations, and positive measures, as well as the limits imposed by democratic principles and territorial integrity. She concluded by arguing that effective participation is not only a tool for minority protection but also a state interest, fostering loyalty, inclusion, and conflict prevention. However, participation mechanisms alone are insufficient unless complemented by policies that promote interaction, trust, and a shared sense of belonging in pluralistic societies.

In the second session, “Comparative Experiences: Minorities Participation in Local Realities,” Hanna Vasilevich presented “Between Belonging and Suspicion: The Securitization of Russian-Speaking Communities in Latvia after 2022.” Her presentation examined how Russian-speaking communities in Latvia have increasingly been framed through a security lens since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. She highlighted how questions of belonging, loyalty, and risk have been rearticulated in everyday governance, including at the municipal level, and how security considerations now often outweigh integration-oriented approaches. Drawing on examples from language policy and media governance, she noted the growing tendency to conflate the actions of the Russian Federation with the domestic realities of Latvia’s diverse Russian-speaking population—an issue also raised by the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in its 2024 Opinion on Latvia. Her analysis underscored how this security-driven framing risks normalising collective suspicion toward Russian-speaking residents regardless of individual political views or civic conduct, with direct implications for public participation at the local level.

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