Playing ping-pong with minority policies and integration: the cases from Estonia, Latvia and Slovakia

Abstract

The minority policy and integration of ethnic and national minorities belong to the central concepts of domestic policy-making in nation states. The article deals with the different approaches to minority policy and integration from the perspective of the Baltic States and Slovakia. We argue about the political conditionality prior to the access to the EU in 2004 and subsequent developments in the perspective of position and protection of national minorities living in respective countries. We reveal the potential threats of minority integration and cohesive society building process, especially with regard to the historical grievance, different elites' attitudes and minority actors themselves. ; Tomasz Wiskulski