Diaspora Legislation in Europe – Shall we Talk about It?
International Relations expert, University of Szeged Francophone University Centre,
Email address: szaniszlo.reka.brigitta@szte.hu
The aim of this paper is to examine and analyse supranational and national legislation relating to diasporas in Europe. The main hypothesis has been the following: If a European state adheres to the political concept of nation, it does not have specific legislation on diasporas. To this end, I sifted through the survey the difference between national minority and diaspora, the work of the Council of Europe in this area and the examination of European national legislation in order to establish a typology of diaspora strategy. The research has shown that the assumption was wrong: it is not primarily the perception of the nation, but rather the level of emigration that determines the level of legislation a country has in place to deal with its expatriates.