A group of people who were crossed out from Slovenia's population registry in 1992 set on a journey to Brussels on Monday to "show the EU what kind of legacy Slovenia brought to the block". Speaking on behalf of the group, Anton Debevec explained that Slovenia's erased now became the erased of the EU.
Slovenia is one of the countries that do not respect their constitutional laws and violate fundamental human rights, Debevec told the press. He is one of 46 activists who headed for Brussels to highlight the issue that affected some 18,000 nationals of the former Yugoslav republics other than Slovenia back in 1992.
Activist Jelka Zorn explained that the Slovenian and European MPs had been acquainted with the problem. She said several members of the European Parliament voiced their support, while there was only one such lawmaker in Slovenia, Aurelio Juri of the opposition Social Democrats (SD).
On the other hand, Zorn singled out Mihael Brejc, a member of the European Parliament on behalf of the senior coalition Slovenian Democrats (SD), whose response she labelled as extremely negative.
One of the organisers of the trip, Roberto Pignoni of the University of Rome, explained that the European Court of Human Rights on 17 November said it would process the lawsuit filed in July by a group of Slovenian and Italian lawyers on behalf of eleven people, who maintain that they were unconstitutionally deprived of their legal status after Slovenia's independence.
The stories of the erased in this lawsuit in a way prove that the Slovenian authorities were the first to internationalise the problem of the erased by forcing thousands of people to leave their homes and run to other European countries, said Pignoni, adding that the lawsuit was a demonstration of international solidarity.
Associated in the Civil Initiative of Erased Activists, the erased are setting on the journey upon the invitation of European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security Franco Frattini.
They are expected to arrive in Brussels on Wednesday, where they are to discuss the issue with Frattini and some MEPs, the Civil Initiative said. The journey will take them also to Italy's Monfalcone on Monday and the French capital Paris on Tuesday.
Along the way they are to meet representatives of a few NGOs and give several news conferences, including one in the French parliament, according to the head of the Civil Initiative Aleksandar Todorovic.
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