Slovenians in Austria's Carinthia draw attention to their minority rights
Klagenfurt, 25 October - The Slovenian ethnic minority in the Austrian state of Carinthia has highlighted the open issues as it addressed a letter to Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen and the leaders of parliamentary parties after the president entrusted Chancellor Karl Nehammer, leader of the Social Democrats (SPÖ), with forming a new government.
Vienna, Austria
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer starting talks to form a government coalition while the Slovenian minority hopes the new government will implement their rights.
Photo: Boštjan Podlogar/STA
File photo
Three Slovenian minority umbrella organisations and the Slovenian political party EL expressed satisfaction that ethnic minorities had been included in the government programme for the period from 2020 to 2024.
However, the programme remains largely unimplemented except for higher funds for the ethnic minorities, reads the press release from the NSKS, one of the umbrellas.
As Nehammer started talks with potential coalition partners on Friday, the minority's representatives highlighted insufficient and inadequate implementation of minority rights and violations of the rule of law. The minority thus hopes that the next Austrian government will address these issues.
Nehammer launched coalition talks with the People's Party (ÖVP) while he also plans to meet with Neos and the Greens, after the election winner, the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), failed to find a coalition party.