ABSTRACT
The intention of this chapter is to study if digital technology tools promote the effectiveness of participatory democracy and inclusiveness of national minorities in public life in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). This chapter attempts to compare Estonia, Poland and Ukraine in terms of digital inequalities among national minorities. The comparative methods are used to identify features that are shared by or are distinctive of the abovementioned countries. Our point of departure is that the period of political transformation since 1990 has determined the socio-economic position of national minorities in CEE. Then, access to technology and digital information has radically transformed the distribution of power, either mitigating or reinforcing existing inequalities. We pay our attention to the pandemic in order to exemplify to what extent national minorities had access to information, how they participated in public life and democratic debate or how the governments guaranteed national minorities' civil rights and liberties after having introduced restrictions and rules on physical distancing. We argue that the pandemic has exacerbated the problem of digital inequalities among national minorities, stimulating an increase in the risk of poverty during the crises.
