Between 12th and 14th May 2019, the representatives of the Minority Co-ordination Group took part in a study visit to Berlin, organised under the project "Strengthening the protection of national minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina". The purpose of this study visit was to exchange experiences and good practices between the German and BiH representatives of minority bodies who are dealing with the issues relating to minority protection and promotion.

The German Council of National Minorities, which, like in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has an advisory role, was presented in depth by the Minority Secretariat. In addition to learning about the current practices in the field of national minorities from the perspectives of the national minorities themselves, the representatives of minority bodies/relevant institution from BiH also had an opportunity to exchange information with the relevant colleagues from the German government. The German Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community, that is closely working on minority protection and promotion of the four recognised autochthonous minorities in Germany (German Sinti and Roma, Frisians, Lusatian Sorbs and Danish minority) on the state level, presented, among others, the (legal) framework based on which they are successfully working with national minorities and also financially supporting them.

Participants also got acquainted with the work of civil society organisations working on the issues of national minorities on the European level, such as Working Group of German Minorities (AGDM), FUEN Federal Union of European Nationalities and Youth of European Nationalities (YEN) but also learned more about the German political/legal structure through the visit to the German Bundestag.

The project "Strengthening the protection of national minorities in BiH" is funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe. It is part of the joint programme called “Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey”, implemented by the Council of Europe.