Funds for Italian, Hungarian minorities to go up in 2025, 2026

Acting head of the Government's Office for National Minorities Ana Komac said that funding for ensuring the rights of the Italian and Hungarian minorities and the Roma community is being increased in 2025 and 2026.

"The original plan for 2025 was EUR 15.97 million, but the proposed amendments envisage EUR 16.77 million and EUR 17.17 million for 2026," she explained.

In 2026, the funding for the co-financing of the bilingual operations of municipalities and the activities of municipal self-governing national communities will be slightly increased, and next year more funding will be available for the institutions of the Italian minority, the umbrella organisations of the two minorities, and the broadcasting programmes of the two minorities and the Roma community.

According to Minister for Cohesion and Regional Development Aleksander Jevšek, EUR 1.6 million will be allocated annually for the Italian and Hungarian minorities for encouraging business activities over the next two years.

For the programming period 2025-2028, a new programme for the Hungarian minority is being drafted, worth EUR 4 million and one for the Italian ethnic community, worth EUR 2 million, he said.

Rado Kostrevc from the Education Ministry said that the Hungarian minority will receive EUR 30.22 million in 2025 and EUR 39.83 million in 2026 for pre-school education, primary and secondary education, as well as for investments and maintenance.

The Italian minority will be entitled to EUR 38.84 million for these purposes next year and EUR 36.20 million in 2026.

In 2025, the budget of the Culture Ministry envisages a 4% increase in funding of cultural activities of the Italian and Hungarian minorities or a total of EUR 1.12 million, said Matevž Čelik from the ministry. In 2026 EUR 1.14 million will be allocated for this purpose, he noted.

Dušan Orban, head of the Pomurje Hungarian Self-Governing Community, thanked the Slovenian state for everything it has done for the Hungarian minority over the past 30 years and welcomed the increase in funding. He regretted that the funding for the minority weekly Nepujsag will not rise too.

MP for the opposition Democrats (SDS) Franci Kepa welcomed the increase in funding for the two minorities, but warned that the bill on financing municipalities, which also deals with co-funding of the two minorities, has not been passed yet.

Dejan Süč from the Freedom Movement expressed hope that a bill on balanced regional development, which is to be presented soon, will address the issues in border regions that have not been solved for decades.

The commission called on the government to study the comments and suggestions made during the debate and take them into account when amending budgets for 2025 and 2026.

The National Assembly will take a decision on the budget bills at its plenary starting on 18 November, shortly before which they will be put to a vote at the Finance Committee.