Slovene Minority Addresses Letter on Census Forms to Italian President Ciampi

Trieste, 2 November - MINORITY/ITALY/SLOVENIA
Representatives of the Slovene minority living in Italy addressed a letter of protest concerning this year's census forms to Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. In the letter, written both in Slovene and Italian, the minority highlights that the failure of the Italian statistics office (ISTAT) to print forms in Slovene represents a violation of the right to use the Slovene language in its relations with the authorities - a right guaranteed by Italian law.