Slovenian minority party in Italy elects new leadership
Trieste, 15 January - The Slovenian Union (SSK), a party representing the Slovenian minority in Italy, elected its new leadership at a congress on Saturday. The new head of the party, Damijan Terpin aims to promote political networking at national and international levels.
Terpin, who replaces Peter Močnik at the helm of the party, told Italian broadcaster RAI that the SSK should re-establish a number of contacts that had been somewhat neglected in recent years.
He would like to renew ties with Italian parties in Rome, and not just with those at local level, with the South Tyrolean People's Party, the SSK's greatest ally, the French community in Italy's Aosta Valley, Slovenians in the Austrian state of Carinthia and, above all, parties and institutions in Slovenia.
These relations must be strengthened, so that the SSK is not isolated, said Terpin, who is a lawyer and a long-serving member and former secretary of the party, which was founded in the 1960s. He counts on his political experience to help him achieve the targets.
The party's president has a representative role, while the SSK's secretary is in charge of policy.
The latter post will be assumed by Fulvia Premolin, who was elected the first woman secretary in the party's history. She will replace Igor Gabrovec.
The former mayor of San Dorligo della Valle, Premolin told RAI: "It looks like the time of women is coming, and I'm happy to be a part of it." She is also glad the party has come up with new approaches to meet the challenges ahead.
The SSK's new vice president is Franca Padovan, mayor of San Floriano del Collio.