News archive

EURAC researchers discuss the ongoing reform of the Autonomy Statute of Trentino-South Tyrol on academic blogs. On the National Observatory on Language Rights (University of Montréal), Jens Woelk gives an overview of the reform process in the two autonomous provinces (Trento and South Tyrol) which form the region Trentino-South Tyrol. The two provinces have chosen their own – and different – participatory procedures, which will have to be coordinated at regional level. On the European Politics and Policy blog (London School of Economics and Political Science - LSE), Stephen Larinand Marc Röggla focus on South Tyrol and argue that although the ability of citizens to participate in the reform has been more limited than originally envisaged, the process is nevertheless evidence of the potential for power-sharing models to transform conflicts. In their follow-up post on the LSE Democratic Audit blog, Larin and  Röggla propose to bolster South Tyrol's liberal–democratic legitimacy by amending the Autonomy Statue to include 'Others' – the province's official designation for people who do not want to declare membership of one of its three official language groups – in the executive proportionality rule.

The Global Forum is Southeast Asia’s most comprehensive conference on autonomy, federalism, and governance as a means to address societal divides and conflicts and promote sustainable development. It brings together governmental officials, scholars, representatives of NGOs, business community and media. The list of case studies presented and discussed include inter alia Mindanao and Cordillera (Philippines), Canada, Spain, India, Australia, Northern Ireland and Scotland (UK), Bougainville (Papua New Guinea), Aceh (Indonesia), Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, South Africa, Finland and Kenya. Read more…​​

The 7th Tibet Support Groups Conference called on the Chinese government to unconditionally resume dialogue with the representative of the Dalai Lama and to respond positively to his efforts to pursue a mutually-beneficial solution through the Middle-Way approach, which calls for genuine autonomy for the whole of the Tibetan people. The conference was organized in Brussels by Tibet Interest Group in the European Parliament, and co-hosted by the International Campaign for Tibet, Lights on Tibet, Les Amis du Tibet, and the Tibetan Community in Belgium. Read more…​​

According to 2001 census, over 200000 ethnic Bulgarians are living mostly in Southern Ukraine. A fifth of the population of Odessa oblast (province) is ethnic Bulgarian. Ukraine is currently working on a territorial-administrative reform and various ethnic groups claim different form of autonomy. Ethnic Bulgarians in Ukraine demand cultural autonomy and maintaining the city of Bolgrad located in Odessa oblast as the administrative center for the community. Read more...

Kurdish parties have declared the establishment of a federal system in areas they control in northern Syria. The region will reportedly be called "Rojava - northern Syria". Rojava is the term Kurds use to refer to Syrian Kurdistan. The Kurds already operate "autonomous administrations" in three enclaves bordering Turkey: Afrin and Kobane in Aleppo province and Jazira in Hassakeh. The new federal region will also include mainly Arab and Turkmen areas captured from so-called Islamic State. The declaration was dismissed by the Syrian government, which insisted that it would have no legal basis. The US and Turkey, which is wary of anything that might encourage separatism by its own Kurdish minority, have also warned against such a unilateral move. Read more ...

The Gällivare district court granted the ​Sami village (sameby) of Girjas exclusive rights to control fishing and hunting in the area, restoring powers that were stripped from the Sami people by Sweden’s Parliament in 1993. According to Swedish law, sameby is a legal entity of indigenous Sami people that is granted a special juridical status that allows members some rights over the grazing areas used for reindeer husbandry. Lawyers for the state claimed that the indigenous status of the Sami people was irrelevant to the case and that Sweden has no international obligations to recognize special rights of the Sami, whether they are indigenous or not. Read more...