German Diaspora Politics

Abstract

Cross-border national minorities could create security problems due to their irredentism-prone nature. The emergence of kin minority policies is based on the policies followed by Germany and Austria after the First World War. The basis of these diaspora policies consist of "following a liberal national minority policy", "separating immigrants from minorities" and "developing cross-border relations with kin minorities as much as possible". The European integration process which continuously supports the development of minority rights and aims the peaceful resolution of crossborder problems, has an undeniable contribution for the solution. Thanks to the European integration, the lands lost in past wars could become of insignificant importance in the Union where borders are blurred and nations are merged.