The year 1989 brought the societies of Central and Eastern Europe face to face with tasks which were previously unforeseen. Changes created opportunities for individual as well as social freedoms, but the ability of societies to live and deal with these possibilities largely disappeared during four decades of oppression. Players in political life and misguided public opinion are searching for a scapegoat rather than looking for solutions to the accumulation of economic, constitutional, and state organizational problems. National and ethnic minorities are the most suitable to fulfil this role. Therefore, rather than a democratic transformation, we are witnessing ethnic tensions and bloody national conflicts while the opportunities provided by change are lost somewhere in the haze of the future.

Citizens of different nationalities living together under one flag are the touchstone of freedom and also its guarantee. The protection of minorities is not only in their own interest, but is in the interest of the majority as well. The pre-condition for the protection of minorities is an expert and unbiased judgement of the circumstances and a firm foundation for working out systematic solutions.

However in Eastern and Central Europe, an objective evaluation of the situation has yet to occur; the concept of rights within minority establishments is still in its formative stages, not to mention that there are few individuals who could make such institutions work. The goal of the Pro Minoritate Foundation is to alleviate these problems by contributing to more effective protection to minorities and in doing so, building a free society for free people.

The Pro Minoritate Foundation is an international foundation in that in keeping with it's goal to alleviate the problems of Central and East European minorities, it does so for the benefit of the countries in that region. The foundation is independent and not profit-oriented, therefore it depends on the financial support of international institutions, forums, and political parties which are pledged to defend and protect minorities. In the course of it's work, the foundation will rely on the experience and resources of minority organizations and will support the opinions of minority representatives in developing its programs, thus sharing and organizing its activities with minorities.

The Pro Minoritate Foundation is open to all who regard the protection of minorities as something that a democratic society cannot do without.

Gyula Benda Historian, Toso Doncsev President of the Bolgarian Self-Government in Hungary, István Elek Journalist, Zsolt Enyedi Sociologist, László Kövér Member of Parliament, Csaba Lõrincz Parlamentary Advisor, Zsolt Németh Member of Parlaiment, Szabolcs Nagy, Executive Secretary of the Foundation.

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