The parliamentary commission for Slovenians abroad held a panel debate ahead of drafting a national strategy on Slovenians living in neighbouring countries, which is to take into account the present position of Slovenia as a EU member country. The panel focused mainly on the preservation of Slovenian language.
The speakers underlined that Slovenians in Slovenia and foreign countries form an integral body and a common cultural as well as national space. Slovenians in neighbouring countries have on several occasions expressed interest in the adoption of a suitable strategy.
The speakers included head of the Office for Slovenians Abroad Franc Puksic, State Secretary at the Foreign Ministry Bozo Cerar and leaders of the umbrella organisations of Slovenian minorities in neighbouring countries.
They mostly agreed that the primary guidelines for strategy development should concern language and education in Slovenian. They also agreed that cross-border cooperation with regions in neighbouring countries inhabited by Slovenians should be strengthened.
Parliament Speaker France Cukjati stressed in his opening speech the potential that the minority represents from the point of view of investments, while Cerar thought EU membership is an additional possibility for creating a positive active environment for the minorities.
Joze Wakounig of the National Council of Carinthian Slovenians (NSKS) said that EU membership should serve as a means of connecting the nation, while the minorities should be an active link with the central state.
Some participants were in favour of the Office for Slovenians Abroad becoming a central institution to connect all the areas in relation to minorities. Cerar said its cooperation with the Foreign Ministry and the diplomatic corps should be precisely determined.
Rudi Pavsic, president of the Slovenian Minority Coordination (SLOMAK) and the Slovenian Cultural and Economic Union (SKGZ), a minority organisation in Italy, proposed the "designate a single body that would reconciliate all the minority matters".
Puksic also stressed the importance of constant pressure on the governments of neighbouring countries to respect the rights of Slovenian minorities; assistance in the prevention of deliberate assimilation of minorities; the formation of a special fund for land preservation; and a permanent solution of minority financing.
Pavsic also thought that Slovenia should strive for the best possible relations with the countries where the Slovenian minorities live in order to secure a positive attitude towards them. In addition, he called for the unity of Slovenian minorities, since disunity in his opinion is its major weakness.
More articles from this issue:
Archive
|