ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that Europeanization has a deep impact on minority political action and examines the underlying assumptions and implications of the inherent state-centrism of European approaches to minority policy. Europeanization is understood as the emergence of new, improved structures of governance in the framework of European political and social integration, through a democratically negotiated process involving European and domestic actors. The chapter discusses the diverging effects that European integration has had on minority political action—in creating avenues for the articulation and negotiation of claims, and in constraining the achievement of claims. The post-communist decades were characterized by major institutional transformations directed by political elites committed to integrating Central and Eastern Europe states into Western organizations—NATO, the Council of Europe, and eventually the European Union. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
