Language center for minority languages

The plan gives Sweden a special task to strengthen national minorities' rights to identity, language and cultural heritage, seen in light of the state's historical wrongs. Permanent funding of language centres is what makes it possible to preserve and pass on the languages long-term, which the right presupposes. The plan also wants cultural policy to provide good and stable economic conditions.

• minority language rightsdecisive»de nationella minoriteternas rättigheter till identitet, språk, kulturarv« (party programme ↗)“national minorities' rights to identity, language, cultural heritage”
• special responsibility for minorities»Sverige har en särskild uppgift att stärka urfolks och« (party programme ↗)“Sweden has a special task to strengthen indigenous peoples' and”
• historical wrongs bind»Den svenska staten har genom historien utsatt urfolk och nationella« (party programme ↗)“The Swedish state has through history wronged indigenous peoples and national”
• good economic conditions for culture»Kulturpolitiken behöver skapa goda ekonomiska villkor för såväl« (party programme ↗)“Cultural policy needs to create good economic conditions for both”

The party programme commits to asserting and supporting national minorities' opportunities to maintain and develop their language, and wants cultural life to reflect cultural diversity. Permanent funding for language centres is a means for precisely this long-term preservation. The plan does not, however, take a position on the form of financing as such.

• support for minority languagesdecisive»I detta ska också ingå att hävda och stödja nationella minoriteters möjligheter att« (party programme ↗)“This shall also include asserting and supporting national minorities' opportunities to”
• cultural diversity»Kulturinstitutionerna och kulturlivet måste spegla den kulturella mångfalden i dagens« (party programme ↗)“Cultural institutions and cultural life must reflect cultural diversity in today's”
• living cultural life»Sverige ska ha ett levande, fritt och obundet kulturliv som både stärker samhörigheten och utmanar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden shall have a living, free and independent cultural life that both strengthens community and challenges.”

The plan requires that the rights of national minorities are strengthened and that their special status, culture and language are respected and strengthened. Language centres are precisely the institutions that carry the languages forward to future generations, and the plan explicitly protects minority activities. Permanent financing therefore follows from the plan's commitments.

• strengthened minority rightsdecisive»stärka nationella minoriteters och urfolket samernas rättigheter och att Sverige ska förbinda sig att följa den internationella konventionen om urfolks rättigheter (ILO 169).« (2022 manifesto ↗)“strengthen national minorities' and the Sami people's rights and that Sweden should commit to following the international convention on indigenous people's rights (ILO 169).”
• minority languages should be strengthened»språk, måste respekteras och stärkas. Samerna« (party programme ↗)“language, must be respected and strengthened. The Sami”
• minorities' special status»Deras särskilda ställning, med egen kultur och eget« (party programme ↗)“Their special status, with own culture and own”
• support for minority activities»Vi värnar också de näringar och arbetstillfällen som våra nationella minoriteter bidrar med.« (party programme ↗)“We also protect the industries and jobs that our national minorities contribute with.”

The manifesto explicitly commits to strengthening the status of minority languages, and language centres' task to preserve and pass on languages requires that they can operate long-term. The party also wants culture to be provided throughout the country and sees clear benefits with public support for culture and cultural heritage. Permanent funding is the form that meets that commitment.

• strengthened status for minority languagesdecisive»Vi vill stärka bland annat äganderätten, diskrimineringsförbudet, minoritetsskyddet och minoritetsspråkens ställning« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to strengthen in particular property rights, the prohibition of discrimination, minority protection and the status of minority languages”
• culture throughout the country»Att tillhandahålla kultur i hela landet är en viktig utgångspunkt för Centerpartiet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Providing culture throughout the country is an important starting point for the Centre Party.”
• public support for cultural heritage»Ett samhällsstöd till kultur har uppenbara vinster« (party programme ↗)“Public support for culture has obvious benefits”

The plan commits that the public shall support a language, culture and media offering with minority language profile and that the individual's opportunities to use minority languages are strengthened. The language centers are precisely the infrastructure that carries that commitment, and permanent financing is what is required for them to be able to operate long-term. The plan also establishes that the position of national minorities shall be maintained.

• public support for minority languagesdecisive»Det offentliga ska understödja ett språk-, kultur- och medieutbud med minoritetsspråksprofil.« (party programme ↗)“The public shall support a language, culture and media offering with minority language profile.”
• minority languages at government agencies»Individens möjligheter att använda minoritetsspråk i kontakten med myndigheter ska stärkas.« (party programme ↗)“The individual's opportunities to use minority languages in contact with government agencies shall be strengthened.”
• position of national minorities»Samernas, sverigefinnarnas, tornedalingarnas, judarnas och romernas ställning som nationella minoriteter och samernas ställning som urfolk ska upprätthållas.« (party programme ↗)“The Sami's, Swedish Finns', Tornedalians', Jews' and Roma's position as national minorities and the Sami's position as an indigenous people shall be maintained.”
• minority-oriented schools»Skolor med inriktning mot de lagskyddade nationella minoriteterna ska alltid kunna finnas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Schools with orientation toward the legally protected national minorities shall always be able to exist.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan makes it a central public task to support minorities' own efforts to maintain and further develop their culture and wants to assure minority languages a strong position through legislation. Permanent financing of language centres is the practical expression of such a long-term commitment, in line with stewardship of cultural heritage and the requirement that minorities' needs are taken into account at all levels of the public sector.

• minority language positiondecisive»stark ställning genom lagstiftning.« (party programme ↗)“strong position through legislation.”
• support to minority culture»Det är en central offentlig uppgift att stödja minoriteters egna insatser för att behålla och vidareutveckla« (party programme ↗)“It is a central public task to support minorities' own efforts to maintain and further develop”
• stewardship of cultural heritage»En god kulturpolitik måste sträva efter att ta tillvara det värdefulla kulturella arv« (party programme ↗)“A good cultural policy must strive to take advantage of the valuable cultural heritage”
• long-term conditions for civil society»Ett vitalt civilt samhälle är av största vikt för en levande demokrati« (party programme ↗)“A vital civil society is of greatest importance for a living democracy”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan says nothing about language centers for the national minority languages. The nearest principle is that all new commitments must be financed and that the major needs in the justice system, defense and welfare place hard demands on prioritizations. Permanently funding something outside these prioritizations therefore does not have support in the plan.

• hard prioritizations are requireddecisive»Alla nya löften och reformer – som till exempel våra inkomstskattesänkningar – behöver finansieras eller rymmas inom överskottsmålet. De stora behoven inom rättsväsendet, försvaret och välfärden ställer stora krav på prioriteringar under åren som kommer.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“All new promises and reforms – such as our income tax cuts – need to be financed or fit within the surplus target. The major needs in the justice system, defense and welfare place major demands on prioritizations in the years to come.”
• prioritize and choose not to do»Politiken har en viktig uppgift att prioritera och välja bort,« (party programme ↗)“Politics has an important task to prioritize and choose not to do,”
• institutions free from the state»Målet ska vara självständiga institutioner som i sin verksamhet står fria från stat och politik.« (party programme ↗)“The goal should be independent institutions that in their activities stand free from state and politics.”

The plan makes an explicit exception for the national minorities from assimilation policy and wants to give them far-reaching cultural autonomy. It also establishes that the preservation of cultural heritage should be financed by the public. Permanent financing of the language centres for minority languages is the practical consequence of these commitments.

• cultural autonomy for minoritiesdecisive»ska de som grupper undantas från allmänna assimileringssträvanden och ges långtgående kulturell autonomi« (party programme ↗)“they should as groups be exempted from general assimilation efforts and be granted far-reaching cultural autonomy”
• publicly financed cultural heritage»bevarandet av kulturarvet, utbildningen och omhändertagandet av svaga och sjuka bör finansieras av det offentliga« (party programme ↗)“the preservation of cultural heritage, education and the care of the vulnerable and ill should be financed by the public”
• exception for national minorities»med undantag endast för de nationella minoriteterna« (party programme ↗)“with exception only for the national minorities”
• cultures should be protected»De skilda kulturerna är mänsklighetens gemensamma arv och bör erkännas och skyddas till allas gagn.« (party programme ↗)“The different cultures are humanity's common heritage and should be recognized and protected for everyone's benefit.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.