OSIMO TREATIES ARE THE CONSTITUTION OF SLOVENIAN-ITALIAN RELATIONS

Ljubljana, 8 November 2000



At the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Osimo Treaties, the President of the Republic, Milan Kucan, received representatives who participated at the drafting of the treaties between the then SFRY and Italy.

Kucan underlined the significance of the treaties signed on 10 November 1975, which definitely resolved the issue of the tracing of the border between the two states, thus contributing also to the reinforcement of bilateral relations. The President also recalled that Slovenians in Italy, whom the Osimo Treaties guarantee the highest possible protection, are still awaiting the parliamentary act on their global protection. According to the President, Italy owes this act which is now pending adoption not only to its citizens of Slovenian origin but to democratic Europe as well.

President Kucan believes that the dilemmas which the Slovenian nation is presently facing are similar to those it faced at the onset of the 20th century: how to survive while locked between two worlds, the Germanic and the Latin, and how to preserve its identity in a changing world. The crucial difference, in his opinion, is that at that time the fate of the Slovenian nation was mainly decided on by others who also provided the answers to the said dilemmas, whereas today the Slovenian people, who finally have their own state, are deciding and seeking solutions themselves. Back then we knew we had to find a way of living with our neighbours. Today we know that we must find our place in the processes and trends marking our times – the European Union, Kucan added.

The President also emphasised the diplomatic experience of adopting the Osimo Treaties, when a very sensitive issue was being resolved in an appropriate manner. Diplomatic circles led the negotiations silently, “not through the headlines of newspapers and behind every bar, as the young Slovenian state unfortunately often does today. This is something that could serve as a lesson to Slovenian diplomacy”, Kucan said.