The new European minority legislation passed in this century includes: 1)two internationally legal instruments adopted in frame of the European Council, i.e. European bill on regional and minority languages (1992), and convention on the rights of national minorities (1994), 2) approximately 25 bilateral agreements and 3) minority norms in new or supplemented constitutions of Central and Eastern European states and additionally various other legal regulations of these states. The existing andfuture development of the minority law is being influenced by norms formulated by KEVS, i.e. OVSE in frame of the regional communities such as Council of Baltic States or the Central European Initiative as well as among the European international non-governmental organisations, e.g. FUEN and INTEREG. In accordance with the subsidiary principle, ethnic and cultural views on integration do not belong in the field of activities of the European Union. While on the one hand there was no political will for the formation of standards concerning minorities inside the European Union, on the other hand the EU approached these issues in relations to other states with a lot of zeal. The future European security and stability system would be anchored in sound foundations only if it would be based on the interests of all states as well as of other subjects in Europe. It should certainly include also standards and mechanisms for regulating interethnic relations, as well as take into account the role of ethnic minorities in the new European system. NATO intervention in Yugoslavia triggered a very serious international crisis with long-reaching consequences which touch the very essence of the international community. Resolving the crisis will demand an exceptional political prudence and skill of the subjects responsible or involved. One thing is clear from the start: Pax Americana will be based on the interests of America as a planetary power and not on the interests of nations and states of the region.
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