EBLUL and the Pomorskie Voivodship region hosted their annual Partnership for Diversity conference in Gdańsk, Poland on 12 September. It was announced in the conference that Poland has ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML), with both the Chambers of the Polish Parliament and the President signing it. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will now deliver the ratified document to Strasbourg, along with the detailed instructions on the points and regulations accepted.
Speakers at the conference included Mieczlslaw Struk, Vice-Marshal of Pomorskie Voivodship, EBLUL President Neasa ni Chinneide, and Artur Jablonski, chairman of the Kashubian Pomeranian Association. Tersea Condeço, of the European Commission, also delivered a speech on the importance of the annual PfD conference and EBLUL. The role of the Council of Europe was also discussed with Sonia Parayre, from the Secretariat of the ECRML recognising the strength of language policy.
Other speakers included Mikel Anton (Director for European Affairs, Basque Government), Gabriele Iannacaro (Universita di Milano, Italy) and Thomas Stolz (Universität Bremen).