Fajon meets with representatives of Slovenian minority in Italy

"Slovenia closely follows all topics and issues relevant to the existence and development of the Slovenian ethnic minority in Italy, and regularly raises them in discussions with Italian counterparts," Fajon said in a press release after the meeting in Ljubljana.

Assessing the situation regarding the implementation of the minority's rights, the participants focused on the issue of the community's political representation at national and regional levels.

An important step towards this goal took place in March when the Italian Senate's Constitutional Affairs Committee endorsed an amendment stipulating that future electoral legislation will have to respect provisions protecting linguistic minorities.

It will have to respect the provision of Article 26 of the Slovenian minority protection law and facilitate the election of members of the minority as MPs or senators, Minister for Slovenians Abroad Matej Arčon said at the time.

There is also a good chance of a guaranteed seat for the minority in Friuli Venezia Giulia, a region where the minority members live.

Education issues were also raised at today's meeting. Fajon and the minority representatives talked about mutual recognition of degrees and professional qualifications needed for entering the labour market.

In addition to Fajon the meeting's participants included Italian Senator of Slovenian ethnicity Tatjana Rojc, heads of the minority's umbrella organisations Ksenija Dobrila and Walter Bandelj, chair of the parity committee on Slovenian minority matters Marko Jarc, Marko Pisani, a member of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Regional Council from the Slovenian Union (SSk) party, and Vesna Humar, a state secretary at the Government Office for Slovenians Abroad.

The meeting was held in the run-up to the next meeting of the Slovenia-Italy Coordination Committee of Ministers, which will be held in Brdo pri Kranju on 28 October. The last such meeting took place in 2021.