“Germany was one of the first countries to appoint a commissioner for national minorities, and there are still only a handful in Europe. It was a very smart move, and the various Federal Commissioners for Matters Related to Ethnic German Resettlers and National Minorities have worked closely with the national minorities in Germany over the years. In fact, one could say that it is one of the good practice examples of Europe, so there is reason for celebration”, states ECMI Director Prof. Tove Malloy, who is in Berlin today for the ceremony.

The office of the Federal Government Commissioner for Matters Related to Ethnic German Resettlers was established in 1988. Since 2002, the office also covers national minorities. Since 11 April 2017, the position of the Commissioner is filled by Dr. Bernd Fabritius. He is the central contact person at federal level regarding matters related to the national minorities. Being from the German Minority in Romania himself, he is familiar with autochthonous minorities. In his post, he is responsible for the German minorities abroad and he also represents German resettlers at the federal level and coordinates integration measures with state-, local governments and social organizations.  Dr. Fabritius also supports German minorities in their countries of origin, coordinates aid policy measures and serves as co-chair of the government commissions concerning German minority affairs.

After having visited the Danish-German border region for the very first time, he made a short trip to Copenhagen last week, where he met Mette Bock (Minister for Culture of Denmark). After the meeting, he travelled back to Southern Denmark, to deliver the commemorative speech at Deutscher Tag 2018 in Tinglev, DK. ECMI hopes to welcome him again soon and congratulates him on his appointment.

Source: ECMI InfoChannel @ European Centre for Minority Issues.