The Croatian community in Slovenia has acquired a centre designed to support the activities of various Croatian organisations. The Croatian Home, located in the heart of Slovenia's capital, was inaugurated on Friday, with the key of the centre handed over by Ziga Debeljak, the CEO of retailer Mercator, which donated the house.
Ivo Garic, the head of the Union of Croatian Associations in Slovenia, said the dreams of Croatians living in Slovenia had come true. According to him, the community centre facilities will allow the community to organise top cultural events.
Croatian Ambassador Mario Nobilo, who was also present at the ceremony, said this was a great day for Croatians in Slovenia and also for the relations between the two countries.
"This is a big step towards securing better conditions for the so-called new minorities from the region of the former Yugoslavia," Nobilo said. He added there was symbolic meaning in the fact that the Slovenian Home in Zagreb and the Croatian Home in Ljubljana were both to be found at identical addresses - Masarykova Street.
The mayors of Zagreb and Ljubljana, Milan Bandic and Zoran Jankovic, also attended the event. Jankovic said that they agreed to upgrade the existing agreement on cooperation between the capitals with the twinning of the cities.
Bandic meanwhile said the opening of the centre was proof that the agreement on cooperation existed not only on paper but also in reality.
Both mayors assessed the cooperation between the two cities as good and also agreed to shortly arrange a meeting of company representatives from both cities.
More articles from this issue:
Archive
|