The European Court of Human Rights has rejected a claim by Poles of Germanic origin that their Silesian roots entitle them to separate national recognition. The decision once again puts the spotlight on the question: What is nationality?
The answer does not simply revolve around the nation state. A man may be French, British, Iraqi or Algerian, but he could also be Corsican, Welsh, Kurd or Kabyle. Spain is a nation state, but Catalans and Basques have no doubt that they too are a nation. The same is true for Malayalis and Tamils of India
Language is often a distinguishing and binding factor. But a different language is not essential. Most Scots speak English only but know perfectly well that they are not English. Likewise Croats and Bosnians speak the same language as Serbs but their identities are very different.
The truth is that nationality cannot be decided on by courts or governments — else there would be no Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, Bulgarians or any of the myriad other nationalities in Eastern Europe today. The Hapsburg, Russian, German and Ottoman authorities would have made sure of that. Instead, despite their best efforts, these nationalities survived because they clung to their identities. Some like the Czechs and the Slovaks found statehood. Most did not. Who nowadays considers the Ruthenians, the Carpathians, the Ladins and the Pomaks? Yet 20 years ago, who would have imagined that the Bosnians or the Montenegrans would return to the political map?
Nationality arises not from governmental diktat but from what people feel. They share an identity, forged over centuries and sharpened by adversity and oppression. Bosnia and Kosovo reasserted their identities after Serbian oppression.
Nowhere is without its indigenous minorities. Europe’s ethnic diversity is echoed in China, India, Russia and even the Middle East. Look at the rising assertions of Berber identity across North Africa. The ethnically monochrome country does not exist.
The EU, despite its centralizing instincts, is also interested in regional identities. The human rights court’s ruling will not stop Silesian nationalist agitation. In time their separate identity will be recognized in some way.
But that will pose no threat to Poland. It no longer matters that Silesia was carved from defeated Germany after 1945. Europe is growing together. Ethnic rivalries are being replaced by celebration of diversity.
In today’s global village we all benefit from a rich cultural mix. That there is a France, a Poland, an India, an Egypt, a Saudi Arabia benefits us all. But we are also enriched by the nationalities without states of their own, like the Scots, Basques, Tamils and Kurds.
