Slovenians from Carinthia alert EU Parliament about minority rights
Klagenfurt, 14 November - Four Slovenian minority organisations from Austria have addressed a petition to safeguard minority rights and uphold the rule of law to the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament (PETI). The petition highlights "the inadequate implementation of minority rights in Austria" as a threat to the ethnic minority's existence.
Strasbourgh, France
Unity List president Gabriel Hribar (right) handing the petition on inadequate implementation of minority rights in Austria to MEP Ana Miranda, deputy chair of the European Parliament's Petitions Committee.
Klagenfurt, Austria
Four Slovenian minority organisations from Austria wrote a petition to safeguard minority rights and uphold the rule of law, addressing it to the European Parliament.
Photo: NSKS
Klagenfurt, Austria
Four Slovenian minority organisations from Austria wrote a petition to safeguard minority rights and uphold the rule of law, addressing it to the European Parliament.
Photo: NSKS
Failure to fully implement the guaranteed rights leads to "an erosion of language and culture, violation of the principles of the rule of law, and considerable deficiencies in the equal protection of the minority language in the areas of education, jurisdiction and administration", says the petition.
Education is highlighted as an area where continuous bilingual education should be ensured at all levels, from kindergarten to university.
The minority's organisations also point to the use of the Slovenian language not being universally available in administration and the judiciary.
The petition thus calls for "urgent measures" and "clear legal provisions" to ensure the use of Slovenian in courts and public administration in the entire bilingual area.
It notes the positive shifts in safeguarding minority rights, such as doubling funding for minorities or more funds for the media, but the pledge from 2011 to change the ethnic groups law remains unfulfilled.
The petition urges the European Parliament to review the matter as part of fundamental European values and the rule of law, and contact Austria to "honour its obligations under the State Treaty of Vienna and the international agreements on the protection of minorities".
The document was submitted to PETI last week in Strasbourg by the representatives of the Unity List (EL), the Association of Slovenian Organisations (ZSO), the National Council of Carinthian Slovenians (NSKS) and the Community of Carinthian Slovenians (SKS).
The press release the organisations issued on Tuesday says that support for the petition was expressed by two PETI members, Romanian MEP Lorant Vincze (EPP) and the committee's deputy chair Ana Miranda, a Spanish MEP (Greens).