Croatia wants to improve status of its community in Slovenia
Ljubljana, 7 September - President of the Croatian Parliament Gordan Jandroković, who is on a visit to Slovenia, said that the situation of the Croatian minority, which does not have the status of a minority in Slovenia, is one of the open bilateral issues that Croatia would like to resolve in the spirit of good neighbourly relations.
Ljubljana
National Assembly President Urška Klakočar Zupančič (right) hosts her Croatian counterpart Gordan Jandroković.
Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA
"The status of Croats in Slovenia is important to us, and we believe that the conditions have been met for them to be given the status of an ethnic minority," Jandroković said as he met members of the Croatian community in Slovenia on Thursday.
He added that Croatia wanted to resolve this issue "in the spirit of good neighbourly relations and mutual respect", and expressed the belief that this would happen, the Croatian press agency Hina reported.
Jandroković, who started his two-day visit to Slovenia on Wednesday at the invitation of his Slovenian counterpart Urška Klakočar Zupančič, also met today with Marko Lotrič, the president of the National Council, the upper chamber of parliament.
Like yesterday with Klakočar Zupančič, the two confirmed the good relations between the countries and the interest in deepening inter-parliamentary cooperation, the National Council said in a press release.
Jandroković again expressed his condolences for the victims of the recent floods in Slovenia and noted the importance of solidarity between the residents of the two countries.
He and Lotrič also assessed that the economic relations between Croatia and Slovenia are developing well, pointing to the steady growth in trade, mutual investments and tourism indicators.
The president of the National Council said he was happy that Croatia joined the Schengen Area, which he welcomed as having a positive effect on the lives of people close to the border and business cooperation between the two countries.
As part of the two-day visit, Jandroković also met Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob on Wednesday.