Public Organizations of National Minorities of Prykarpattia in the Socio-Political Life of the Region

Abstract

The article focuses on the role of national minorities in the processes of national consolidation, enrichment of national culture and the formation of civil society in Ukraine. Acting as social mediators between groups of different interests and government agencies, between civil society and the state, they focus their activities on the development of interethnic relations, the revival of national cultures, the satisfaction of their spiritual needs. For Ukraine, as for any other polyethnic state, the issue of national minorities is actual and needs constant research.
In this article is analyzed the concept of «national minorities», is explored the activities of public associations of national minorities in Ivano-Frankivsk region, is identified their role in the socio-political life of the region. In article is proved that public organizations of national minorities are mainly a means of preserving their originality and identification and they work closely with local executive bodies and local governments.
In general, Prykarpattia does not belong to the potentially conflict regions of Ukraine and is as close as possible to the average region of the country. It has been studied that the state of establishment and activity of public associations of national minorities is influenced primarily by financial support from both the states that are their historical homelands and the states in whose territory they permanently reside. It is concluded that the most active among the national minorities of Prykarpattia in public life are Poles, Hungarians and Jews. The rest of the ethnic communities did not form their own public associations either because of the small number or because there was no need for such self-organization.