Expert committee calls on Finland to strengthen education in the different Sami languages and ensure their use in services

The Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages has called on the Finnish authorities to further strengthen education of Inari Sami, North Sami and Skolt Sami and ensure their effective use in social and health care services. The committee also recommends that the authorities increase awareness and tolerance in the society as a whole vis-à-vis the regional or minority languages and the cultures they represent.

In a new evaluation report, published today together with the comments from the Finnish authorities, the committee notes that action plans and media campaigns has been launched to address discrimination against minority language speakers. However, the low awareness about minority languages in the society, which is one of the causes, has not been adequately addressed. The experts further recommend that the authorities strengthen the overall use of Swedish, including in social and health care services. The Committee of Experts also calls for measures to ensure the revitalisation of Romani, in co-operation with the speakers, in particular related to education, including training of Romani teachers and the production of teaching materials.

The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is the European convention for the protection and promotion of languages used by traditional minorities. It entered into force in Finland in 1998 and applies to Swedish, Inari Sami, North Sami and Skolt Sami, Karelian, Romani, Russian, Tatar and Yiddish. The Committee of Ministers invites the Finnish authorities to submit the information on the recommendations for immediate action by 1 September 2025 and the next periodical report by 1 March 2028.

The sixth evaluation report of the Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is based on the information provided by governmental and non-governmental sources, including that obtained during its visit to Finland in October 2023. The evaluation report has been published together with comments from the authorities. A summary of the evaluation report is also available in Finnish.