The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has expressed disappointment regarding the decision of the EU Commission to reject the "Minority Safepack Initiative" (MSPI) for an EU-wide minority package. The unambiguous message is a slap in the face of the cultural, religious, linguistic, and ethnic minorities. With its rejection, the EU stated that it is not responsible for implementing minority rights – which is to be seen as a contradiction to several decisions of the European Court of Justice, the Union Treaties governing minority issues, and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The rejection of the successful citizens' initiative (with more than one million signatures in seven member states) is also a decision against citizens' participation in the Union.

On behalf of President von der Leyen, the General Secretariat of the Commission responded to a statement of the STP International ironically, almost cynically. On the one hand, the Commission emphasized its commitment to respecting the rights of members of minority groups and to cultural and linguistic diversity. On the other hand, the Commission stated that it had already taken action – and, thus, had already fulfilled its obligations.

The statement ignores the reality of the minorities. The Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) launched its "Minority Safepack Initiative" out of political necessity, in order to stop the dying of minority languages and minority cultures. According to the EU Commission's 1996 "euromosaic" study, focusing on the 48 minority languages in the EU area, 23 have only limited or no chances of survival. Twelve other minority languages are classified as "endangered." Since the publication of the study, little has been done to combat language extinction.

The EU Commission's decision overrode the EU institution that has the highest democratic legitimacy, namely the European Parliament, which is directly elected by the citizens. Following a parliamentary hearing on the citizens' initiative, a large majority of MEPs had voted in favor of the minority initiative. Nevertheless, the Commission decided against it.

The EU Commission's rejection of the citizens' initiative will also help strengthen the self-determination movements in Catalonia, the Basque region, Corsica, or among Hungarians in Transylvania, Romania. Ultimately, the Commission's response also encourages unrest in regions of linguistic and national minorities. With its approach, the EU Commission appears to be guarding nation-state interests. The alleged commitment to cultural and linguistic diversity is nothing more than lip service – a missed opportunity.