National minorities in Poland

[arnold7]

Official figures published on June 16 by the Polish Central Statistics Office
show that Silesians are the country's biggest national minority. This
represents a major success for EFA member party Ras Autonomii Slaska (RAS) -
The Silesian Autonomy Movement - which has long campaigned for official
recognition of the Silesian nation in Poland. The Polish government has for
many years sought to deny the existence of the Silesian nation and these
results come despite reports of census enumerators refusing to accept
Silesian as a declaration of nationality and of local officials
changing 'Silesian' to 'Polish' on people's census forms.

Silesians now represent Poland's biggest national minority of some 173,200
people (followed by Germans - 152,000 and Belarussians - 48,700).

The results have been welcomed by EFA President Nelly Maes MEP (Spirit -
Flanders).

Nelly Maes MEP said:

"Official recognition of the Silesian nation by the Polish government is long
overdue. These census results are a major success in the campaign for
Silesian regional autonomy and for RAS, the leasing regional autonomy
movement in Silesia. When such a large number of people choose to define
themselves as Silesian - despite massive state pressure to the contrary -
this surely sends a clear signal to the Polish government that regional
autonomy for Silesia is now firmly on the political agenda.

This is particularly true within the context of an enlarged EU where the
rights of minorities will, we hope, be enshrined within the new European
constitution. This is great news and a tremendous boost for the Silesian
Autonomy Movement in the run-up to the 2004 European Elections".

The full results in respect of national minorities in Poland are: Silesians
(173 200), Germans (152 900), Belarusians (48 700), Ukrainians (31 000), Roma
(12 900), Russians (6 100), Lemko (5 900), Lithuanians (5 800), Kashubs (5
100), Slovaks (2 000), Jews (1 100), Armenians (1 100), Czechs (800).

Pyrsk!