National minorities' languages and culture

The party programme establishes that Sweden has committed itself to protecting and strengthening the Sami's rights to identity, language and cultural heritage, but that much remains to be done: the right to use one's own language should be expanded and education in minority languages expanded. A specific Sami language law and Nordic library cooperation for books in Sami realize exactly these commitments. The plan additionally prioritizes the Sami's rights as indigenous people.

• expanded language rightsdecisive»Möjligheten att använda det egna språket i kontakt« (party programme ↗)“The possibility to use one's own language in contact”
• protect minority languages»Genom internationella avtal har Sverige nu förbundit sig att skydda« (party programme ↗)“Through international agreements Sweden has now committed itself to protecting”
• Sami rights are prioritized»Sverige måste prioritera arbetet med att ratificera konventionen ILO 169 om ursprungsfolk och stamfolks rättigheter.« (party programme ↗)“Sweden must prioritize work to ratify convention ILO 169 on indigenous peoples and tribal peoples' rights.”
• expanded minority education»de nationella minoritetsspråken samt de nationella minoriteternas« (party programme ↗)“the national minority languages as well as the national minorities'”

The plan commits to upholding and supporting national minorities' opportunities to maintain and develop their own language and culture. Investigating a special Sámi language act when all Sámi languages are endangered is a direct expression of that commitment. The plan also wants to develop Nordic cooperation, which supports the proposal for Nordic library cooperation, and establishes that libraries shall be free of charge. The plan therefore supports the demand.

• support for minorities' languagesdecisive»I detta ska också ingå att hävda och stödja nationella minoriteters möjligheter att« (party programme ↗)“This shall also include upholding and supporting national minorities' opportunities to”
• develop Nordic cooperation»Vi vill utveckla det nordiska samarbetet för att möta de gemensamma utmaningarna som« (party programme ↗)“We want to develop Nordic cooperation to meet the common challenges that”
• free libraries»Biblioteken ska vara avgiftsfria.« (party programme ↗)“Libraries shall be free of charge.”

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 election manifesto promises to strengthen the rights of national minorities and the Sami and that Sweden shall comply with ILO 169, and the party programme says that minorities' own language must be respected and strengthened. It supports both an investigation into a Sami language law and Nordic library cooperation, since the plan also wants to remove obstacles in the Nordic region and strengthen libraries.

• strengthened indigenous 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 the rights of national minorities and the Sami indigenous people and that Sweden shall undertake to follow the international convention on indigenous peoples' rights (ILO 169).”
• minority languages' position»Deras särskilda ställning, med egen kultur och eget« (party programme ↗)“Their special position, with their own culture and their own”
• Nordic cooperation on minorities»även i Norden, förbättra den skandinaviska språkförståelsen och nationella minoriteters rättigheter« (party programme ↗)“also in the Nordic region, improve Scandinavian language understanding and national minorities' rights”
• strong libraries»stärka biblioteken i deras viktiga arbete för läsning och demokrati.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“strengthen libraries in their important work for reading and democracy.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The election manifesto explicitly commits to strengthening minority protection and the status of minority languages. The counter-proposal's investigation into a Sami language law is precisely such a strengthening, and the Nordic library cooperation links to the plan's valuing of Nordic cooperation and to culture being provided throughout the country. The plan therefore supports the counter-proposal's demands.

• strengthened minority languagesdecisive»Vi vill stärka bland annat äganderätten, diskrimineringsförbudet, minoritetsskyddet och minoritetsspråkens ställning« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to strengthen, among other things, property rights, the prohibition on discrimination, minority protection, and the status of minority languages”
• Nordic cooperation»Det nordiska samarbetet, som överbryggar många europeiska konstellationer, spelar en viktig roll.« (party programme ↗)“Nordic cooperation, which bridges many European constellations, plays an important role.”
• 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.”
• counter discrimination»Vi bekämpar alla strukturer, formella och informella, som förtrycker eller diskriminerar människor.« (party programme ↗)“We combat all structures, formal and informal, that oppress or discriminate against people.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The plan establishes that Sámi status as a national minority and indigenous people shall be maintained and that the public sector shall support language and cultural offerings with minority language profile. To investigate a special Sámi language act and Nordic library cooperation serves precisely this purpose, as does the plan's requirement for strengthened opportunities to use minority languages. The plan does not mention a language act as such, but the direction toward stronger protection for the Sámi languages is clear.

• support for minority languagesdecisive»Det offentliga ska understödja ett språk-, kultur- och medieutbud med minoritetsspråksprofil.« (party programme ↗)“The public sector shall support language, culture and media offerings with minority language profile.”
• Sámi as indigenous people»Samernas, sverigefinnarnas, tornedalingarnas, judarnas och romernas ställning som nationella minoriteter och samernas ställning som urfolk ska upprätthållas.« (party programme ↗)“The status of Sámi, Sweden Finns, Tornedalians, Jews and Roma as national minorities and Sámi status as indigenous people shall be maintained.”
• right to use minority languages»Individens möjligheter att använda minoritetsspråk i kontakten med myndigheter ska stärkas.« (party programme ↗)“Individuals' opportunities to use minority languages in contacts with authorities shall be strengthened.”
• protection for national minorities»Skolor med inriktning mot de lagskyddade nationella minoriteterna ska alltid kunna finnas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Schools focused on 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 minority efforts to maintain and further develop their culture, and explicitly points to legislation as the way to give minority languages a strong position. It also protects Sámi culture and the role of libraries as places for reading. Therefore, an investigation into a special Sámi language law and Nordic library cooperation for books in Sámi is in line with the plan's direction.

• minority languages strengthened by lawdecisive»att göra detta är att tillförsäkra minoritetsspråken en« (party programme ↗)“to do this is to secure minority languages a”
• support for minorities' own efforts»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”
• protected Sámi culture»Rennäringen ska värnas eftersom den är en betydelsefull del av samisk kultur samt viktig för sysselsättning« (party programme ↗)“Reindeer herding should be protected because it is a significant part of Sámi culture and important for employment”
• the role of libraries»Vi vill värna den unika plats för läsning,« (party programme ↗)“We want to protect the unique place for reading,”

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 does not address the languages of national minorities or a Sámi language law. The closest principle is that politics has an important task to prioritize and rule out, that the state should act with caution outside its core mission, and that the major needs in justice, defence and welfare require hard prioritizations. New state commitments in this area therefore receive no support, but the conclusion is uncertain.

• prioritize and rule outdecisive»Politiken har en viktig uppgift att prioritera och välja bort,« (party programme ↗)“Politics has an important task to prioritize and rule out,”
• caution outside the core»och agerar med försiktighet på andra områden.« (party programme ↗)“and acts with caution in other areas.”
• hard prioritizations»De stora behoven inom rättsväsendet, försvaret och välfärden ställer stora krav på prioriteringar under åren som kommer.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The major needs in justice, defence and welfare place heavy demands on prioritizations in the years to come.”

The party programme states that national minorities should be exempted from general assimilationist efforts and given extensive cultural autonomy, and explicitly mentions the Sami nation. The counter-proposal's demand to investigate a special Sami language law thus aligns with the plan, as does the demand for Nordic library cooperation that corresponds to the election manifesto's commitment to strengthen Nordic linguistic and cultural community. However, the plan does not directly address language legislation, which is why the support is derived.

• cultural autonomy for minoritiesdecisive»ska de som grupper undantas från allmänna assimileringssträvanden och ges långtgående« (party programme ↗)“should they as groups be exempted from general assimilationist efforts and be given extensive”
• protect indigenous peoples' status»Urfolkens ställning och kulturella värden ska värnas i den utrikespolitiska inriktningen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Indigenous peoples' status and cultural values shall be protected in foreign policy orientation.”
• Nordic linguistic community»Stärk den nordiska språk- och kulturgemenskapen« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Strengthen the Nordic linguistic and cultural community”
• recognized national minorities»de samiska och tornedalsfinska nationerna« (party programme ↗)“the Sami and Torne Valley Finnish nations”

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.