Instituto de Estudios Políticos y Derecho Público "Dr. Humberto J. La Roche"
de la Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Políticas de la Universidad del Zulia
Maracaibo, Venezuela
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Vol.41 N° 77
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Vol. 41, Nº 77 (2023), 158-171
IEPDP-Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Políticas - LUZ
Legal regulation of ethno-national
policies (national minorities, indigenous
peoples, multiculturalism)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.46398/cuestpol.4177.11
Yurii Kovnyi *
Vadym M. Roshkanyuk **
Alen V. Panov ***
Mariia Vovk ****
Kateryna Dubova *****
Abstract
The current situation of national minorities, indigenous
peoples and the policy of multiculturalism needs to be
reconsidered from a legal point of view. The purpose of the article
was to investigate the legal regulation of ethnonational policy,
using the experience of major democratic states. The article
used various methods of scientic knowledge such as cognition.
On the basis of the analysis, the legal mechanisms of ethnonational policy
regulation are examined in detail through the prism of the main trends of
indigenous peoples’ rights. In the results, special attention was paid to the
practices of multiculturalism and observance of the rights of indigenous
peoples. In particular, the founding documents of the UN and the Council of
Europe, individual legislative decisions of other international organizations
and various national parliaments were studied. Also, using the example
of the legislation of modern countries of the Balkan Peninsula, modern
trends in the resolution of the rights of national minorities are indicated.
The conclusions underline the prospect of using the model of autonomous
communities for the legal regulation of the life of national minorities and
indigenous peoples in a multicultural society.
Keywords: legal regulation; ethno-national relations; multiculturalism;
national minorities; indigenous peoples.
* PhD., lawyer. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1230-5050
** PhD., Head of the Department of Commercial Law Uzhhorod National University, 26, Kapitulna,
Uzhhorod, Ukraine, 88000. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3083-5231
*** Ph.D., Associate Professor, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Head of the Department of International
Politics, Uzhhorod National University, Ukraine. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8944-
0533
**** Ph.D., in Law, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of Civil Law Disciplines,
Institute of Law of the Lviv State University of Internal Aairs. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-
0002-8740-8222
***** Associate Professor of the Department of Administrative and Constitutional Law Faculty of Maritime
Law Admiral Makarov National University of Shipbuilding, 9 Heroiv Ukrainy Ave., Mykolaiv, 54025,
Ukraine. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1098-9620
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CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
Vol. 41 Nº 77 (2023): 158-171
Regulación jurídica de las políticas etnonacionales
(minorías nacionales, pueblos indígenas,
multiculturalismo)
Resumen
La situación actual de las minorías nacionales, los pueblos indígenas y la
política de multiculturalismo debe reconsiderarse desde un punto de vista
jurídico. El propósito del artículo fue investigar la regulación jurídica de la
política etnonacional, utilizando la experiencia de los principales Estados
democráticos. El artículo utilizo varios métodos de conocimiento cientíco
como el de cognición. Sobre la base del análisis, se examinan en detalle
los mecanismos jurídicos de regulación de la política etnonacional a través
del prisma de las principales tendencias de los derechos de los pueblos
indígenas. En los resultados se prestó especial atención a las prácticas
del multiculturalismo y la observancia de los derechos de los pueblos
indígenas. En particular, se estudiaron los documentos fundacionales de
la ONU y del Consejo de Europa, las decisiones legislativas individuales de
otras organizaciones internacionales y de diversos parlamentos nacionales.
Asimismo, utilizando el ejemplo de la legislación de los países modernos de
la Península Balcánica, se indican las tendencias modernas en la resolución
de los derechos de las minorías nacionales. Las conclusiones subrayan
la perspectiva de utilizar el modelo de comunidades autónomas para
la regulación jurídica de la vida de las minorías nacionales y los pueblos
indígenas en una sociedad multicultural.
Palabras clave: regulación jurídica; relaciones etno-nacionales;
multiculturalismo; minorías nacionales; pueblos
indígenas.
Introduction
Contemporary societal developments demonstrate examples of dealing
with the complex problems of national life in individual countries and nding
ways of peaceful understanding when conicts or misunderstandings arise.
Although individual cases (such as the Russian authoritarian regime and its
crimes in Ukraine) point to the existence of open chauvinism as the basis of
national policy, in general, democratic states and governments pay attention
to respect for ethnic diversity, decision-making on the rights of national
minorities, development of multiculturalism and other manifestations of
respect for smaller peoples and nations.
The globalized world has turned to the practice of protecting ethnic
diversity, the motto of the modern European policy “Unity in Diversity”
160 Yurii Kovnyi, Vadym M. Roshkanyuk, Alen V. Panov, Mariia Vovk y Kateryna Dubova
Legal regulation of ethno-national policies (national minorities, indigenous peoples, multiculturalism)
can be considered a kind of slogan of this process. At the same time, an
analysis of the experience of democratic countries in Europe and America
regarding the legal framework of multi-ethnic cohabitation can be useful
for developing countries. From this point of view, the study of this issue
will occupy an important place among research interests, since the rights of
national minorities, the policy of respecting and promoting multiculturalism
are evolving, and therefore require further consideration and research.
1. Research Problem
The development of multiculturalism and policies for the protection
of indigenous peoples and national minorities is an urgent challenge to a
globalized society. Modern world practices, and above all the practices of
the multinational states of Europe, the EU, and North America, indicate
that national minorities, indigenous nationalities constitute an important,
and in some cases tangible and driving force in the transformation and
development of civil society and a stable social situation.
On the other hand, an open disregard for the observance of constitutional
rights and legitimate interests of national minorities has negative political
and legal consequences, which can lead to an escalation of the separatist
movement, the growth of discontent in society, etc. Thus, legal aspects of
the regulation of the peaceful coexistence of several peoples within one
state constitute an important aspect of legal research.
2. Research Focus
The article focuses on the analysis of legislative regulations and the
philosophy of legal decision-making (primarily in the countries of Europe
and the USA), which aim to develop certain recommendations on the
general schemes of regulation of legal mechanisms of the ethno-national
neighborhood. Thanks to this, it is possible to work out recommendations
for nding legal solutions in this sensitive sphere.
3. Research Aim and Research Questions
The purpose of the article is to explore the legal regulation of ethno-
national policies (refers to national minorities, indigenous peoples, and
multiculturalism), using the experience of leading democracies of our time.
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4. Research Methodology
The study was implemented in accordance with scientic principles
and methods of cognition. Based on the analysis, the main subject of the
study (legal mechanisms of regulation of ethno-national policy) is divided
into several smaller parts, in particular, the coverage of the main trends of
the rights of indigenous peoples, the study of models of implementation
of national minorities issues by legislation. Using synthesis, these parts
are combined and a comprehensive vision of the problem of regulation of
ethno-national policy is formed.
The structural-functional method is based on the study of society as
an integral system of integrated parts striving for a stable existence by
choosing a certain system of values. As a result of using the historical
method of cognition, the evolutionary development of the formation of the
mechanisms of ethno-national policy is traced on specic examples. Based
on the dialectical method, the phenomenon of ethno-national policy is
dened as constantly transforming, changing, and requiring study at many
stages of development.
A weighty role in this legal research is played by the method of content
analysis, which was used in the study of modern literature, invariant in the
structure or content of the object under study.
5. Literature Review
Móré (2016) described the peculiarities of the functioning of national
minorities in Hungary. The author focused especially on the problem of
parliamentary representation of national minorities in Hungary. At the
same time, Nipp (2015) identied key problems of legislative regulation
of national minority rights in America. Ntalakosta (2021) identied the
problem of regulation of indigenous rights in Canada through the prism of
historiosophic analysis.
The researcher notes that although Canada has established mechanisms
to regulate the legal activities of Indigenous peoples, they continue to face
discrimination and violations of their freedoms. Ntalakosta’s study (2021)
analyzes a number of legal violations committed against indigenous lands,
in particular, the author notes large-scale energy projects, coastal pipelines,
trans-Mountain pipelines built without taking into account the interests of
minorities living in Northern and Western Canada.
At the same time, Rights (2013) described the specics of the legal
regulation of indigenous peoples in the Philippines. Key aspects of national
minority rights regulation are analyzed in Stavenhagen (2015). Vrdoljak
162 Yurii Kovnyi, Vadym M. Roshkanyuk, Alen V. Panov, Mariia Vovk y Kateryna Dubova
Legal regulation of ethno-national policies (national minorities, indigenous peoples, multiculturalism)
(2018) in a study entitled Indigenous peoples, world heritage, and human
rights. Paravina (2022) analyzed the long debate over national minority
rights for Croatian Serbs through the lens of minority language and
educational policies. The researcher notes that such controversy results
from the introduction of legislation and integration policies in the European
Union that focus on citizenship and the integration of immigrant workers
but pay less attention to the constitutional recognition of minority language
rights formed after the breakup of Yugoslavia. Paryzkyi (2022) outlined
the key features of the transformations of certain vectors of modern legal
development.
Johansson (2022) studied the theoretical aspects of the concept of
multiculturalism. His study analyzes the literature of the late 1990s and
early 21st century: it was during this time that many works on the problem
of multiculturalism were compiled. Johansson’s (2022) article identies
several important issues that require theoretical explanation. The rst
relates to the theoretical conceptualization of collective or group identities.
The second problem contains a discussion of “race” and ethnicity, and the
third is directly related to identity politics.
The fourth concerns the boundaries of national space and
transnationalism. The theoretical foundations of the phenomenon of
multiculturalism are also explained by Patel et al (2017). Krieger (2020)
identied the key limits of racism, sexism, and characterized their key
manifestations through transnationalism. Morska and Davydova (2021)
analyzed key aspects of human rights philosophy through the lens of
contemporary globalization trends.
Nevertheless, some problems require more careful analysis, in particular,
the search for the best models of cohabitation of national minorities and
indigenous peoples through the prism of multiculturalism.
6. Research Results
6.1. Indigenous Rights and Multiculturalism: Trends in
Development
The democratization processes that swept the world in the second half
of the twentieth century did not initially address the rights of indigenous
peoples (Morska and Davydovna, 2021). The constitutional legal instrument,
the “Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” was not developed
and adopted at the UN until 2007 (Stephens et al., 2007). At the same time,
only 143 states voted for its legitimization, while countries with sizeable
indigenous populations (such as the United States, Canada, New Zealand,
and Australia) opposed such a ruling.
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The “Declaration” referred to the rights of indigenous peoples, in
particular the possibility of self-determination, the possibility of autonomy
and self-government in matters relating to the internal life of their
communities, the ability to nd their own ways to nance autonomous
entities (Stephens et al., 2007). Legally, indigenous peoples did not have the
right to seek independence. The Declaration stipulated that no fact could
be construed as authorizing or encouraging any action that would lead to
disunity or to the partial or total disruption of the territorial integrity and
political unity of sovereign and independent states.
An important international milestone in legal support for indigenous
peoples was the adoption of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention
in modern countries (Yupsanis, 2010). This “Convention” was adopted
in 1989 and was the basis for another international legal instrument, the
Convention concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in the Independent
States. According to Article 3 of this document, “Indigenous and tribal
peoples shall enjoy full human rights and fundamental freedoms without
hindrance or discrimination” (United Nations, 1989).
At the same time, Article 5 of the Convention notes that: “the social,
cultural, religious and spiritual values and customs must be recognized and
protected, the values and traditions of these peoples must be respected,
the policies of governments must be aimed at alleviating the diculties
experienced by these peoples...” (United Nations, 1989: 14).
The provisions of the Convention apply without discrimination to
male and female members of these peoples. At the same time, these legal
instruments are advisory in nature and not binding (Patel et al., 2017). On
the other hand, the legally binding instrument is the International Labor
Organization Convention 169, which contains clear requirements for the
legal protection of indigenous peoples.
In particular, this Convention legally establishes the existence of the
collective rights of indigenous peoples, the possibility of their possession
of certain territories, and the existence of legal obligations to indigenous
peoples, which has generally strengthened the scope of protection of their
rights (Sapinski, 2022).
As researchers have noted, it has only become a reality to implement this
convention in Latin American countries (Rights, 2013). Many European
countries have not ratied it, although Germany’s accession in 2021
(although Germany has no indigenous peoples) indicates interest in the
document in the legal realm. In general, European lawmakers also consider
the rights of indigenous peoples through the prism of multiculturalism,
which is characterized by the coexistence of representatives of dierent
cultures, peoples, and religions within the same legal community and the
creation of such legal acts, which would avoid overt assessments of the
164 Yurii Kovnyi, Vadym M. Roshkanyuk, Alen V. Panov, Mariia Vovk y Kateryna Dubova
Legal regulation of ethno-national policies (national minorities, indigenous peoples, multiculturalism)
social structure. To regulate multicultural policies, even at the level of local
communities has been decided (Zumeta, 2021).
For example, individual Swiss cantons and Italian regions have charters
dening the rights of newcomers and regulating multicultural policies
(Johansson, 2022). However, multiculturalism and its legal foundations
are represented more by norms of national legislation, which characterize
democratic processes in Europe.
In the countries of the European Union, the conventions adopted by the
Council of Europe should be pointed out. First of all, in 1992 the European
Charter for Regional Languages of National Minorities was supported, and
in 1995 the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
was approved, which also referred to the relevant rights of indigenous
peoples (Tembo, 2016). The implementation of the main provisions of
these documents indeed depends on the provisions of national legislation
in these spheres, so they are subject to political will in particular countries.
In North America, there are other methods of protecting the rights
of indigenous peoples. In the United States and Canada, legislative and
judicial precedent-setting mechanisms are used for this task. The transfer
of separate legal rights, the creation of judicial autonomies for indigenous
peoples in North America throughout the twentieth century has not
demonstrated eective results (Ntalakosta, 2021).
Legislators in legal practice rely on separate agreements between
the government and indigenous peoples to regulate their legal status.
Judicial decisions also have weighty legal eect (Smith, 2019), that result
from lawsuits brought by Indigenous peoples’ representatives against
governmental organizations or local executive bodies.
6.2. Models for resolving national minority issues through
legislation (the case of the republics of the former Yugoslavia)
The ethnic mosaic of peoples in the modern countries that formerly
comprised the single republic of Yugoslavia led to fundamental
transformations in all ethnic communities after the dissolution of that
federation and the formation of new independent states, including those
integrated into the modern EU (Zubielevitch et al., 2021). The legal
treatment of ethno-national problems in the region became particularly
important given the Serbian government’s aggressive attempts to preserve
the unity of the former country and force other nationalities to comply
with political unity (Krieger, 2020). The wars that erupted in the Balkan
Peninsula throughout the 1990s had devastating consequences primarily
for Serbia itself.
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At the same time, attempts to further defuse the political situation under
the patronage of other European countries and the U.S. led to the gradual
development of legal mechanisms for national cohabitation. The experience
of using such regulation can be useful for other countries, as it takes into
account the latest trends in dening the legal status of national minorities
and their rights.
In fact, every independent participating State of the former Yugoslavia
as a whole has a legal framework for the legislative regulation of ethno-
national life, in which, above all, the legal position of national minorities
is clearly dened (Paryzkyi, 2022). In general, an analysis of the legal
framework of these countries shows that the models of such regulation
contain many common features and are extremely similar to each other.
In particular, the constitutions of the Balkan countries contain separate
sections on the fundamental rights of national minorities, which are the
basis for the formation of relevant provisions and legislation, detailing these
rights and specifying the mechanisms and means of their implementation.
These are fundamental rights (the right to exist as a self-determined
community, relating to a particular ethnicity) (Matvienkiv and Shmalenko,
2022), “compensatory” rights (the right to use their native language in
administrative activities, the right to receive education, receive information
in their native languages, appropriate cultural development, legally
regulated ability to freely interact, develop economically, and use national
symbols to dene themselves) (Stavenhagen, 2015), “political” rights (the
rights of minorities to participate in national and local decision-making
processes, especially with regard to determining their own political and
social position) (Paravina, 2022).
The enshrining of fundamental and “compensatory” rights in the
legislation of the member states of the former Yugoslavia has been an
important tool for pacifying the region after the bloody wars. In the Republic
of Northern Macedonia, for example, members of national minorities may
hold free demonstrations, maintain and develop their own national identity
and its attributes, and found cultural, artistic, educational institutions and
other organizations that should support and develop the national identity.
The right to study ethnic languages in primary and secondary schools (with
the compulsory detailed study of the state language) is also approved by
law. The state undertakes to guarantee the protection of the ethnic, socio-
cultural, linguistic, and religious identity of national minorities.
The gradual resolution of national minority problems has also been
facilitated by the movement of Northern Macedonia toward membership
in the European Union. In particular, in 2017 a long dispute with Greece,
whose territory was home to a large Macedonian diaspora, was resolved.
Because of hate speech and informal claims by the Macedonian diaspora,
ocial Athens blocked the integration process, and only when the Skopje
166 Yurii Kovnyi, Vadym M. Roshkanyuk, Alen V. Panov, Mariia Vovk y Kateryna Dubova
Legal regulation of ethno-national policies (national minorities, indigenous peoples, multiculturalism)
government changed the country’s name to North Macedonia was the
conict resolved (Patel et al., 2017).
With its decision, the Macedonian government put the country’s European
integration aspirations ahead of the ethno-national confrontation with the
neighboring state. Also in 2022, an interstate agreement between Bulgaria
and Northern Macedonia was brokered by France - this international
document stopped the Macedonian hostility in Bulgaria (Vrdoljak, 2018).
Skopje was able to continue its course of European integration, an integral
part of which was the solution of problems with national minorities outside
the country.
Considering the political rights of national minorities can be seen in
Slovenia, where Italians and Hungarians live in compact groups. The fact
that Slovenia has been a full member of the EU since 2004 makes it easier
to adopt and comply with legislative norms, so the country is also subject
to the general legal norms produced in this union (Johansson, 2022).
Representatives of national minorities take part in national and local
elections on the same level as all citizens of the state. At the same time, they
have the right to participate in the election of governors from their own
national communes (societies).
In legal practice, such practices are called the double concept of
guaranteeing the rights of national minorities (Nipp, 2015). On the one
hand, they get the right to vote on general grounds, and on the other
hand, they get the opportunity to represent their own interests by electing
representatives from their own environment to the legislative and executive
authorities at regional and local levels.
The use of the dual concept is justied in a number of legal documents.
The Slovene Constitution ensures the right to represent minorities in
parliament and local executive structures and details the mechanism of
parliamentary elections. In particular, the basic law of the country states
that members of national minorities, regardless of their place of residence
(ethnically compact or mixed), can participate in the election of their
representatives to the general parliament of the country (Patel et al.,
2017). All communities living separately (dispersed) from the main place
of residence have the right to vote remotely to express their own position.
Local elections in Slovenia are organized based on the Local Self-
Government Act. In areas where members of national Hungarian or
Italian minorities live next to Slovenians, they are guaranteed at least one
representative each in local government. A major concession for national
minorities is that it is virtually impossible to amend legislative acts
governing ethno-ethnic life without the participation of representatives of
national minorities and their respective consent.
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The formation of self-governing national minorities has become an
important and eective instrument for protecting the rights of national
minorities. Using the example of Slovenia, we can see that since 1994 the
Law on Self-Governing National Minorities was adopted. It denes in detail
the issues under the responsibility of minorities, outlines the means of its
operation as an autonomous element, the basic functions and structure, the
possible sources of nancing, and the procedures for contacts with state
authorities at the general and local levels.
A typical example is the work of the ethno-national entity of Italians
in Slovenia. The Italian self-governing national minority has the power to
cooperate on behalf of the Italian minority with the public administration,
to be sure to monitor and approve all measures related to the status of the
community before putting them into practice. The functions of the self-
governing minority also include international cooperation with Italy and
other Italian national minorities residing in other countries.
A similar legal basis also exists in other European countries. For
example, in Hungary, according to the Law on the Rights of National
Ethnic Minorities, national communities have the status of self-governing
elements of society (Móré, 2016).
7. Discussion
It is worth agreeing with researchers who believe that contemporary
measures to legislate the rights of national minorities, indigenous peoples,
and multiculturalism are related to attempts to consolidate society around
universal values (Paravina, 2022; Johansson, 2022; Patel et al., 2017). A
reference to the writings of historians Parshyn and Mereniuk (2022) shows
vivid examples of the tolerant coexistence of dierent peoples and dierent
confessions based on the concepts of humanism and practicality. According
to Paravina (2022) appeals to ideas of humanism, respect for human rights,
and tolerance are enshrined in law and form an indispensable part of
legislative regulation.
Similarly, attempts to suspend or abolish the rights of national minorities
are rightly considered to be detrimental to national unity and to disrupt the
functioning of the social machinery (Sapinski, 2022). The current level of
social development demonstrates that governments of developed countries
strive to create conditions that facilitate the integration of ethno-national
communities into common national organisms.
Among European democracies, a separate example is Belgium, where
the conict between the Flemish and the Walloons continues. The legal
regulation of this case demonstrates the desire of two dierent peoples to get
168 Yurii Kovnyi, Vadym M. Roshkanyuk, Alen V. Panov, Mariia Vovk y Kateryna Dubova
Legal regulation of ethno-national policies (national minorities, indigenous peoples, multiculturalism)
along in one state, to arrange the autonomous status of both communities
and their territorial arrangement. However, it does not speak of national
minorities, but of a confrontation between two peoples with their own
interests and traditions. The case of Switzerland is also somewhat similar,
although it has a confederal political system with extensive autonomous
rights for individual cantons.
The challenge and factor of destabilization in the dimension of the
borders of the realization of the rights of national minorities (it is said about
the possibility of making a decision) is the issue of the politicization of
ethnicity. The process of “politicization” of ethnicity arises when considering
the compact settlement of members of a certain national minority outside
the home state. European examples of such a policy have several images.
First of all, it refers to the Russian minority in the Baltic countries, the
Serbian minority in the neighboring countries of the Balkan Peninsula.
The ocial Kremlin has repeatedly used the consequences of Soviet
policy - the considerable number of Russians resettled in other republics
during the Soviet era. Similarly, the Serbs have exploited the resettlement of
their ethnos in the countries of the former Yugoslavia. The abuse of tolerant
attitudes toward national minorities has become a relevant subject for
legal response in Latvia, Lithuania, or Estonia, where the legally enshrined
institution of non-citizens allows politicians to overcome their political
ambitions to use their fellow citizens to achieve their own ends.
The search for coexistence in the legal plane can combine methods of
maintaining a tolerant attitude with legal instruments of punishment for
those who, under the slogan of tolerance, seek to sow political discord or civil
conict. The legislative model of self-governing national minorities, aimed
at maximizing the involvement of national communities in administrative
governance, looks eective; combined with the preservation of the integrity
and inviolability of national codons, this model is able to satisfy the basic
principles of respect for their rights.
On the other hand, current trends of giving indigenous peoples a new
legal status, dierent from that of national minorities, can be considered
relevant, which in a peculiar way can be considered as compensation
for their lack of statehood. The process of legal renewal of the status of
indigenous peoples can become an important tool to reduce tensions in
society and prevent possible separatism.
Perhaps the model of self-governing national minorities could also be
applied to indigenous peoples, who would be given the right to participate
in public and political life, governance, and cultural life. Combined with the
proposed UN instruments on the rights of indigenous peoples, this would
regulate certain aspects of their legal life. It is also important to emphasize
the multiculturalism of modern societies, which would nally change the
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public outlook toward tolerance of the rights of national minorities and
indigenous peoples and the consolidation of their status in the legislative
foundations of society.
Conclusions and Implications
Therefore, public attention to the problems of national minorities,
indigenous peoples, and multiculturalism was reected in the adoption
of relevant legal decisions and legislative acts. In particular, the rights
of indigenous peoples are regulated by international legislative acts
and national legislation. At the interstate level, the UN and Council of
Europe conventions, world organizations (such as the International Labor
Organization), also point to the inviolability of national borders and do not
support indigenous peoples’ rights to self-determination.
At the same time, not all of them have been ratied by national
governments and put into use in other countries. However, the prospect
of their use in Europe exists, as the most inuential countries (Germany
in particular) are beginning to turn to these norms. The EU and European
countries are characterized by an appeal to multiculturalism, which
also includes the rights of indigenous peoples and the policy of “unity in
diversity”. A separate instrument for regulating cohabitation with natives
is judicial decisions, which have demonstrated their eectiveness in North
American countries - binding arbitral awards serve as mechanisms for
indigenous people to inuence their status.
The experience of regulating the rights of national minorities is
important. In particular, the resolution of this issue in the Balkan Peninsula
has demonstrated the eectiveness of the method of granting rights to
self-governing communities, thereby giving them a legal presence in state
decision-making. The use of this principle is possible while taking into
account the rights of indigenous peoples and confronting the aggressive
politicization of the national question, such as that actively used by the
authoritarian Kremlin regime.
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