Slovenia calls for banning youth wing of the Austrian Freedom Party
Ljubljana/Vienna, 12 February - Following the anti-Slovenian message posted on social media by the youth wing of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) earlier this week, Slovenia urged Austria in a protest note to launch a procedure to ban the FPÖ's youth wing in Carinthia, the Austrian press agency APA reported on Sunday.
Ljubljana
The Slovenian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.
Photo: Tamino Petelinšek/STA
File photo
The local chapter of the FPÖ's youth wing has upset the Slovenian minority in Carinthia with a post on Instagram in which it called on voters to vote to remove the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) from power at the upcoming provincial elections and thus stop the Carinthia's "Slovenisation".
The post was later removed, but it has nevertheless caused a stir both in Slovenia and Austria.
The Slovenian Foreign Ministry summoned Austrian Ambassador Elisabeth Ellison-Kramer for talks on Friday, with the ambassador strongly distancing herself on behalf of Austria from the statement.
A day earlier, the ministry sent a note to the Austrian Foreign Ministry through the Slovenian Embassy in Vienna.
According to APA, Slovenia refers to paragraph five of Article 7 of the Austrian State Treaty in the note, which says that "the activity of organisations whose aim is to deprive the Croat or Slovene population of their minority character or rights shall be prohibited".
The FPÖ's call on people not to vote a certain party to diminish the rights of the Slovenian minority is a "direct violation" of the Austrian State Treaty, so Austria should immediately launch "all the necessary steps" in line with the fifth paragraph of Article 7 of the treaty, the ministry said.
The FPÖ's youth wing speaks of "Slovenisation" of the province, while in fact the opposite is true, the ministry said, pointing to decades of assimilation and the fact that 68 years after the signing of the Austrian State Treaty the Slovenian minority in Carinthia still does not fully enjoy its rights.
The Slovenian ministry said it expected the provincial and federal authorities to take steps to protect the constitutional rights of the Slovenian minority.