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Ethnic minority means a group of people with different ethnic backgrounds as opposed to the majority of the population living in a state. There are national minorities in every country of the world, but not in every country they are recognized by their legal status, fundamental rights, representation in institutions, use of language and national symbols, etc. International law obliges states to "respect" the individual rights of minorities to participate effectively in public life, including matters relating to the identity of minorities at the national and local levels in the decision-making process. The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in the Council of Europe requires states to "create" the necessary conditions for such participation. The International Convention against Ethnic and Racial Discrimination requires that "equal access to public services" not be denied or denied on ethnic or racial grounds. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) grants the right of every citizen to be elected without discrimination, while respecting the free expression of the will of the electorate. Various constitutions provide numerous, sometimes innovative, measures to create channels for the participation of minority groups, but often minorities have to appeal in court to gain or defend their rights. In general, the right to political participation, the right to vote and to be represented in Parliament is considered important indicators in the category of effective participation in the collective sphere, because these are categories where the specific demands of communities are in conflict with the democratic principle of majority governance.

Ethnic minority means a group of people with different ethnic backgrounds as opposed to the majority of the population living in a state. There are national minorities in every country of the world, but not in every country they are recognized by their legal status, fundamental rights, representation in institutions, use of language and national symbols, etc. International law obliges states to "respect" the individual rights of minorities to participate effectively in public life, including matters relating to the identity of minorities at the national and local levels in the decision-making process. The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in the Council of Europe requires states to "create" the necessary conditions for such participation. The International Convention against Ethnic and Racial Discrimination requires that "equal access to public services" not be denied or denied on ethnic or racial grounds. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) grants the right of every citizen to be elected without discrimination, while respecting the free expression of the will of the electorate. Various constitutions provide numerous, sometimes innovative, measures to create channels for the participation of minority groups, but often minorities have to appeal in court to gain or defend their rights. In general, the right to political participation, the right to vote and to be represented in Parliament is considered important indicators in the category of effective participation in the collective sphere, because these are categories where the specific demands of communities are in conflict with the democratic principle of majority governance.Keywords: minority, minority, minority rights and their protection, racial, religious, linguistic discrimination, Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

Minorities are part of the people living in a country and being not part of the majority of the population, always have problems relating to the implementation of the rights and fundamental freedoms to them. Filling this vacuum is internationally seen the Framework Convention for the protection of minorities, which sets targets to be achieved by States and its implementation is provided primarily by the measures taken on the national law and secondarily by bilateral agreements since its provisions are not directly applicable. There are also some other international acts of the Council of Europe that sanction rights for minorities. But this paper devotes attention to Albanian legislation and its commitments to enforce the rights and protection of minorities, especially in the context of the integration process in the EU, where the approach of the standards of the acquis for minorities is the focus of monitoring alongside the fundamental human rights and freedoms from the European Commission. EC has introduced the issue of minorities in the Albanian legislation with problems and situation outside the framework of legal protection because of the vacuum of a legal act for minorities, and this paper aims to present some aspects of the problem reflected in its analysis.

Several of the treaties concluded after the World War contain clauses dealing with the protection of minorities. This protection is placed under the guarantee of the League of Nations. By minorities are meant groups of persons who differ in race, religion or language from the majority of the inhabitants of the country. But such persons may be further subdivided into two quite distinct classes: (a) nationals of a foreign Power; (b) nationals of the country concerned. The protection of minorities may also be regarded from two points of view: (1) it may be granted by the laws of the country and therefore be guaranteed by the state; (2) it may be dependent on treaties and be guaranteed by foreign Powers.