High Commissioner on National Minorities

The post of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities was established in 1992 to identify and seek early resolution of ethnic tensions that might endanger peace, stability or friendly relations between OSCE participating States.

Roma in Europe miss out on security and prosperity, says OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities

OSLO, 25 April 2008 - The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Knut Vollebaek, said that the Roma population in Europe have missed out on the new security arrangements as well as on prosperity...

OSCE High Commissioner helps set legal standards for the use of flags

The High Commissioner and his team of legal experts are helping OSCE states to find a balance in the use of national flags that unify their populations and minority flags that help groups to maintain their unique identities.

High Commissioner helps fill the information gap for minorities in Georgia

By supporting the development of two TV stations in the Javakheti region of Georgia, the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities is helping to bring news from across the country to ethnic Armenians.

Romanian-speaking school students in Ukraine's Chernivtsi region extend a warm welcome to the Romanian-Ukrainian Commission, 10 October 2006. The HCNM will take part in further monitoring of the situation of the countries' kin minorities in May 2008. (OSCE/Klemens Buescher)

DOCUMENT: High Commissioner's address to the conference "The Responsibility to Protect: A Framework for Confronting Identity-based Atrocities," New York, 10 March 2008

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Thematic recommendations

• PUBLICATION: HCNM article in the OSCE Magazine, October-November 2007
  Central Asia: Upgrading Education for a Palette of Cultures

Speech by the High Commissioner to Roma seminar in Oslo, Norway, 24 April 2008

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Address by the High Commissioner on National Minorities to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Seventh Annual Winter Meeting

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Address by Ambassador Knut Vollebaek, Vienna, 21 February 2008