Русините – един скрит народ в Централна Европа: Преследвана идентичност, отричано съществуване и несъстояла се държавност

The article presents in brief the history and the present of the Rusyns – one of the many European peoples “without a state”. They are an indigenous population of the Northern Carpathians inhabiting a territory in the geographical centre of Europe; however, during their millennial historical development they had their own state only once and for one day. Today, their historical region, Carpathian Ruthenia, is divided between five countries. In Ukraine, where the majority of the Rusyns lives, they do not have adequate political and cultural minority rights. In the rest of the countries, although they have different degrees of cultural and administrative autonomy, the Rusyns are facing the danger of assimilation because of their small number. Even though they are a geopolitical and ethnocultural reality, their future is at stake.