EN
The presented article aims on introducing the pre-conditions, existing state and perspectives for further development of professional ethnic theatres in Slovakia and Ukraine. Theatres, and its ethnic representations, are the most cultivated and most moderate forms of political and civic engagement. This study is an insight into the legislative norms determining the conditions and possibilities for the functioning of ethnics professional theatre groups. This insight is based on the norms of EU, the Constitution of SR and UA, and individual legal norms on the level of local public administration. The study also describes how the funding mechanism of these theatres works.