Golob vows support to Slovenian minority in Austria
Ljubljana, 6 June - Together with Minister for Slovenians Abroad Matej Arčon, Prime Minister Robert Golob received representatives of the Slovenian minority in Austria on Tuesday. He pledged Slovenia's consistent support for the minority in efforts to fully implement the community's rights guaranteed under Article 7 of the Austrian State Treaty.
The prime minister stressed the importance of education in the Slovenian language for the minority's continued existence and development. He called for the implementation of the bilingual judiciary reform in Austria's Carinthia as soon as possible.
The minority's representatives, who have contributed to efforts to draw up the reform, told Golob about the negative impact of Austria's temporary border controls, which have been in place since 2015.
The representatives noted the minority's efforts to ensure quality education in Slovenian from kindergarten to university and the issue of bilingual judiciary, the government said on its website.
In a report released on Tuesday, the Council of Europe's Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages called on Austria to strengthen the use of Slovenian in courts and in education, particularly pre-school education.