More minority rights urged

Two reports published by the independent Open Society Institute in October 2001 criticise the European Union and central and eastern European countries for failing systemically to secure protection of minorities in the applicant states. The reports, 'Monitoring the EU Accession Process: Minority Protection' and 'Monitoring the EU Accession Process: Judicial Independence' show how all the candidate countries too often pay lip service to protecting minorities while the judiciary is still subject to political interference and often corruption. The reports go on to say that the European Union should take the lead in ensuring greater consistency in its own minority protection law and practice, and applying the criteria to the candidate countries.