Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel wrote Tuesday a letter to his Austrian counterpart Ursula Plassnik, expressing his worries over a recent event when Austria's local political representatives and uniformed federal officials left a new municipal building during its bilingual consecration.
Rupel wrote that such acts cause concern as they are not in line with common European values of respecting language differences and do not contribute to better relations between the Slovenian minority and the Austrian majority.
"We should avoid such unpleasant events, which do not contribute to positive relations between Slovenia and Austria and endeavour for building trust and mutual respect between the Slovenian- and German-speaking population," the minister also wrote.
At the Saturday's consecration ceremony in the village of St. Michael (Smihel) in the Austrian province of Carinthia, the priest Franc Kramberger also held a cross with a ribbon in Slovenian national colours, prompting criticism from Carinthian governor Joerg Haider.
Kramberger already regretted his behaviour, after speaking with Gurk (Krsko) Bishop Alois Schwarz. His action was meanwhile supported by NSKS, a minority organisation.
In line with Article 7 of the Austrian State Treaty, the municipality of Feistritz ob Bleiburg (Bistrica nad Pliberkom), where the village is located, is entitled to Slovenian-German place signs. The name plaque on the municipality building is in German only.
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