Austria distances itself from hateful post
Ljubljana, 10 February - Austrian Ambassador Elisabeth Ellison-Kramer strongly distanced herself on behalf of Austria on Friday from the anti-Slovenian message posted on social media by the youth wing of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), the Slovenian Foreign Ministry, which had summoned the ambassador, confirmed for the STA.
Ljubljana
Austrian Ambassador Elisabeth Ellison-Kramer.
Photo: Bor Slana/STA
The ministry announced on Thursday it would summon the ambassador for a meeting after the FPÖ's Carinthian youth wing urged voters in an Instagram post on Tuesday to remove the SPÖ from power at the upcoming provincial elections and thus stop the Austrian province's "Slovenisation".
The ministry also sent a verbal note to the Austrian Ministry for European and International Affairs through the Slovenian Embassy in Vienna to express concern over the post.
"The post is an abject act against the Slovenian ethnic community in the Austrian province of Carinthia and a show of rejection of the Slovenian language and culture, which are a precious part of the identity of Austrian Carinthia," the ministry wrote, while calling on Austria to act and to fully implement minority rights under Article 7 of the Austrian State Treaty.
The post was also discussed and condemned today by Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon and Carinthia Governor Peter Kaiser. Fajon called for urgent action and Kaiser pledged to do everything possible to ensure the successful coexistence of the German- and Slovenian-speaking communities.