Presidents support resuming talks between Slovenian minority and Italian govt

The permanent body for minority matters has not yet met under the new Italian government, and the Slovenian Foreign Ministry has urged Italy several times to call a meeting.

At her first official meeting with Mattarella, Pirc Musar pointed to the need to address the issue of the Slovenian minority's guaranteed representation in the Italian parliament.

Speaking to the press after the meeting, she said that Mattarella "is aware of the importance of Slovenians getting permanent representation in the Senate".

However, he also told the Slovenian president that for this to happen, the Italian constitution would gave to be amended.

"I can assure you that he is a great friend of the Slovenian minority, a great friend of Slovenia," Pirc Musar said about her Italian counterpart.

Turning to reconciliation between Slovenia and Italy, she said "there have been many symbolic steps taken in the past decade to overcome the differences of the past".

"The president and I will work to ensure that the next steps will also be oriented towards a European future and cooperation. And ensuring guaranteed representation could certainly be one of those steps."

Welcoming all gestures showing the reconciliation is going in the right direction, Pirc Musar said the first step was this year's invitation to Rome received by Slovenian representatives.

According to Pirc Musar, the presidents of Slovenia, Italy and Croatia also received in January an invitation from major associations of WWII fighters and antifascists in Slovenia, Italy and Croatia to visit the former concentration camp on the Croatian island of Rab on 10 September and pay respects to the victims.

"I think this step would be perhaps a bit too quick for Italy to take this year. But I'll be patient. I'm convinced that, together with Croatia, we will be able to jointly take this step in the future."

Migration, the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Western Balkans were also on their agenda.

Pirc Musar said Slovenia was aware of the need to form a common EU asylum policy.

She and Mattarella agreed that an effective and balanced model of migration management and of fight against illegal migration should be set up.

As for Ukraine, Pirc Musar endorsed Mattarella's recent statement that "peace, for which we all work, must reflect justice and international law".

For Slovenia, further EU expansion to the Western Balkans is particularly important, and the country intends to continue helping the countries in the region integrate by providing technical and political assistance.

Slovenia also expects Italy to take part in these efforts, which Pirc Musar said Mattarella welcomed, as well as other Adriatic countries, her office said.

The presidents also agreed to be the honorary sponsors of the European Capital of Culture, a project hosted by Slovenia's Nova Gorica and Italy's Gorizia in 2025.

Pirc Musar moreover invited Mattarella to visit Slovenia next year, when Slovenia marks the 20th anniversary of its EU membership.

"He said he would try to find a window in his schedule, so I hope we meet before 2025, perhaps during Mattarella's official visit to Ljubljana," she said.