Foreign Ministry Presented Book on Slovenian-Austrian Relations
On Wednesday, the Slovenian Foreign Ministry launched a publication on Slovenian-Austrian relations in the 20th century. The book was written by Slovenian historians, though it was initially meant to be a joint project between the two countries.
Presenting the book at a news conference, Foreign Minister Ivo Vajgl said that the publication would enrich Slovenia's documentation of the 20th-century relations between the two peoples and nations. Vajgl was among the initiators of the project.
However, he did acknowledge that the book is an unfinished work, since it was intended to be a joint project of Slovenian and Austrian historians.
The book's authors explained that the common project failed because it had become politicised on the Austrian side. In addition, Austrian historians lacked the financial and logistical support their Slovenian counterparts had enjoyed.
According to Peter Vodopivec, the project became publicised after the Austrian side wanted to cover only three or four decades, while the Slovenians insisted that the entire 20th century be examined. Vodopivec came up with the idea for the book back in 2001.
Dusan Necak, one of the book's editors, moreover explained that the Austrian historians had neither sufficient financial resources nor logistical support. The Slovenian team, on the other hand, was sponsored by the Foreign Ministry. Necak added that the ministry did not interfere with their work.
The Slovenian historians expressed the hope that a similar work might be published by their Austrian counterparts, since the two texts together would represent a solid foundation for the creation of a consensus on the two states' common history.
The book was also published in the German language, in order to enable the Austrian side to become acquainted with the Slovenian view of the history, editor Boris Juh explained.
The 806-page publication boasts to be the most extensive historic analysis of the 20th-century relations between the two nations so far. 14 historians wrote a total of 16 chapters, ranging from politics, business, cultural relations to everyday life.
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