The study deals with the principal tensions in the concept of minority rights that oscillates between the universalism of individual human rights and particularism of individual affiliation to the certain social minority group. This tension is being illustrated on the philosophical sources of minority protection (the cobnroversy between liberalism and communitarism), on the historical background and course of the protection and - above all - on the clash between the individual right of identity choice and the group determination of such choice (thus within the axis individual identity - self-identification - recognition of minority group). The author also deals with the certain models of minority policies within samo of the European states, he presents their typology and evaluation. He also concentrates on the situation of national minorities within the EU.