Court hears lawsuit against Sorbs Foundation

Sorbian Parliament (Serbski Sejm) versus Foundation for the Sorbian People: The parliament has long been demanding equal treatment with other institutions of the Slavic minority, which is based in eastern Saxony and southern Brandenburg. This is because state institutions have so far refused to recognize the freely elected representative body of the Sorbs and Wends, which was established in 2008. This is causing increasing displeasure among the supporters of the Serbski Sejm.

Dresden Administrative Court decides on lawsuit

This Tuesday, the Dresden Administrative Court is to hear a lawsuit brought by the Sorbian Parliament against the Foundation for the Sorbian People, which has been pending for three years. The foundation distributes the funds that the federal government and the states of Brandenburg and Saxony allocate to Sorbian institutions - currently almost 24 million euros per year. The Serbski Sejm would also like to benefit from this, but has so far been left empty-handed.

In concrete terms, the Sejm would like money for an office for the Smy (German for "we are") association, which is committed to preserving and promoting the Sorbian language, culture and identity. It is also intended to administratively facilitate the work of the Sorbian Parliament Serbski Sejm.

Serbski Sejm invokes international law on self-determination

The Serbski Sejm invokes international law on self-determination and calls for a public corporation for the Sorbian people, similar to many religious communities and universities. The parliament sees a blatant contradiction in the fact that the foundation is not allowed to promote political work in its legal form, but the institutions it funds, such as the Domowina (Association of Lusatian Sorbs), are supposed to fulfill the political representation of the Sorbian people.

"Either the foundation is actually not allowed to promote anything political, in which case there would be no financially supported opportunity for the Sorbian people to articulate themselves politically, let alone form themselves. Or the foundation could also promote political work, in which case a parliament that is democratically legitimized through elections would have to be promoted in the first place," is the argumentation of the Serbski Sejm.