Consul General in Cleveland Wants to Unite Slovenians

Cleveland, 08 June

Slovenia's Consul General in the US city of Cleveland, Zvone Zigon, has said that his main mission on taking the post nearly a year ago was to unite all Slovenian organisations in the city. By staging a celebration marking 15 years of Slovenian independence, I have managed to do that, he added.

The only representative of a foreign country in Cleveland, and, indeed, the entire state of Ohio, said that "my greatest success would be if the community continues to cooperate without my help five years from now."
Cleveland, home to an 80,000-strong Slovenian community, the largest in any city outside of Slovenia, began its month-long "Slovenian Days" on Monday, in what was one of the community's greatest projects since it jointly called for the US to recognise Slovenia's independence in 1991.
Zigon added that one the aims of his four-year term was also to set up an office for the Slovenian language as well as resuscitate the links between the twin cities of Cleveland and Ljubljana.
The celebrations were organised with the help of Mayor of Cleveland Frank G. Jackson, who joined Cleveland Senator George Voinovich and Representative Dennis Kucinich as well as others of Slovenian descent and Slovenian diplomats on Monday.
Apart from Cleveland and its surroundings, strong communities of US citizens of Slovenian descent also reside in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as well as in Wisconsin and Minnesota and Indiana, Zigon added.
Zigon is credited with uniting the previously divided local groups of Slovenians, a fact also attributed to his touring the US with one of Slovenia's top choirs, Ave, prior to assuming the post.
The Consulate General in Cleveland covers ten US states, mainly those surrounding the Great Lakes.

Consul General in Cleveland Wants to Unite Slovenians

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