political vocabulary in countries like France and Greece (excluding Western Thrace). The argument for this practice is that granting “special rights” to certain national minorities would escalate racism and inequality on ethnic grounds. Thus, France and Greece have been reluctant to join the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Meanwhile, de facto national minorities in France and Greece constitute for at least 10 % of their populations. Their presence is officially unrecognised, and therefore, their rights are not protected.
This problem exists in various shapes and forms in other monitored countries, except Russia, which has more than one hundred different nationalities. However, Russia adopted a completely different nation-state model, which it inherited from the Soviet Union as a state founded on an idea, rather than traditions of the titular nation.
Non-indigenous peoples – particularly immigrants – are affected by this the most. However, there also millions of citizens in Germany, for example, who were born in these countries, but not recognised as national minorities due to not identifying themselves as any of the 4 accepted ethnic groups. These are Turks, former Yugoslavians and people of Asian and African origins, who are excluded from the Framework Convention.
These factors indicate that the rights of most national minorities in Europe are not observed on a legislative level.
1.2. Changes to counter-extremism and minority rights legislation
Legislative changes in Europe this year were predominantly aimed at solving the following issues: a) rapid illegal immigration; b) integration of legal immigrants; c) social radicalisation; d) terrorism. This was done by introducing tougher migration and anti-racism legislation, and combating various forms of hate crime. The European Union also continued to liberalise LGBT relations. However, countering terrorism has been the main objective of European legislators in recent years.
France, which has the highest number of radical Islamist groups in the European Union and has suffered most from extremism in the region, had adopted a Security and Counter Terrorism Act in December 2012. The law provided for much tougher punishment for people complicit in terrorist activities.[7] On November 4, 2014, France adopted another counter-terrorism law that allowed its authorities to confiscate passports and prohibit exit for people who are leaving for Syria and Iraq with the intention to join radical Islamist organisations. The law also allowed for extra-judicial blocking of Islamist websites.[8]
In 2015, France furthered its anti-extremism legislation by adopting a surveillance act (July 24, 2015), which among other things allowed the security services to plant so-called “black boxes” at internet service providers in order to “monitor traffic and suspicious behavioural patterns through the real-time analysis of metadata.”[9]
Note that the French were particularly critical of the United States Counter Terrorism Act, adopted following the 9/11 attacks and containing similar provisions. Thus, following the adoption of the French counterpart of the Act, President François Hollande sent the bill for the approval of the Constitutional Council, which found it corresponded to the French Constitution.[10] This was an unprecedented step since the Council’s establishment in 1958.
It is fair to say that French and American anti-extremism legislation formed the model for counter terrorism legislation in many countries around the world.
In 2015, Germany[11] and the United Kingdom[12] adopted new counter terrorism acts. Italy and the Netherlands also tightened their counter terrorism legislation during the monitored period.[13] In 2016, Russia is to follow their example.[14] In 2015, Russia had increased fines for the production of media containing the justification of, or public calls for, terrorist or extremist activities[15].
Analysing modern European counter terrorism legislation reveals several of its key elements:
1. Possibility of temporary border control or closure.
2. Introduction of pre-trial ban on travel and confiscation of travel documents, based on security intelligence.
3. Legalisation of internment, deprivation of citizenship, and deportation of persons complicit in terrorist activity (amendments to the Citizenship Act of the Netherlands allows for the annulment of citizenship in the interest of national security).
4. Increased online surveillance.
5. Tougher measures to combat the funding of terrorist activities.
6. Closer monitoring of suspicious activity or behaviour through cooperation with ISPs, transport, medical and other services.
7. Bans on social welfare for so-called “Jihadi tourists.”
Another group of legislative changes in Europe in 2015 focused migration flows.
In July 2015, Germany tightened its Refugee Act, introducing criminal liability for providing false information when seeking asylum. Illegal migrants can not only be arrested, but also have their passports taken away until further notice. Federal Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maizière (Christian Democratic Union) said that strict treatment of new migrants is necessary to ensure that the public agrees with immigration and entry of people who are really in need of Germany’s protection.[16]
In July and August, Hungary amended its border regulations and introduced criminal responsibility for illegally entering the country.[17] It also recognised Servia as a “safe third party”, which allowed for a quick return of transit refugees to that country. The law introduced army presence at the border and allowed the use of non-lethal measures against migrants and refugees, including rubber bullets and tear gas.
Russia is taking measures to streamline the immigration process. As of May 2015, Russian authorities rejected entry for 1.35 million foreign nationals who violated the regulations of stay. Registration of foreign nationals has been somewhat improved. Previously, many migrant workers were registering in so-called “rubber flats” – addresses that have no relation to their actual place of residence. Such flats often officially housed hundreds of migrants, who actually lived in other places, or did not have housing at all. Since the adoption of a corresponding law, the number of rubber flats was reduced from 10,090 to 1,160.[18]
On September 17, 2015, British Parliament introduced a new Immigration Bill, which was the result of a Conservative policy aimed at attracting Eurosceptics and those concerned with the increased flows of refugees.[19] This policy culminated in summer 2016, when following a national referendum Britain voted to leave the European Union. The Immigration Act was criticised by the British public, as it was aimed at reducing the number of immigrants and people seeking asylum by reducing social welfare and tightening the control over the housing and labour market.[20]
In 2015, the British government announced a plan to increase youth employment. It was proposed that jobseekers aged 18 to 21 will be sent to work boot camps – doing community service for 30 hours per week, four weeks per year, or face losing their Jobseekers Allowance.[21]
This sparked criticism from the public, including the fact that the bill would have been primarily aimed at national minorities and immigrants, as these groups have the highest levels of youth unemployment. For example, youth unemployment in black communities in the country is more than 50 %.[22]
France had also transformed its immigration legislation in 2015. Applications for asylum have been sped up from the maximum of 24 months to 9 months. At the end of this