President of the Republic of Slovenia on bilingual sign negotiations

Ljubljana, 7.4.2011  |  statement

The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, today presented his view on the negotiations underway between the representatives of the Slovene national minority, represented by the presidents of three umbrella organisations, and the representatives of the Austrian Government and the State of Carinthia.

President Türk considers the agreement on bilingual signs reached on Friday to be one of many such attempts in the negotiation process, and that this latest development must not conclude matters; the dialogue established must continue and further endeavours made to find an appropriate solution which is acceptable to both sides. Any compromise reached without the consent of all three Slovene minority organisations is not the answer. Therefore, efforts should be made to find a suitable permanent solution.

The issue of bilingual topography in Austrian Carinthia centres on the implementation of the Austrian State Treaty and the decisions of the Austrian Constitutional Court. However, the negotiation process is an opportunity to find a systematic and long-term solution to further improve the conditions of co-existence between the people of Carinthia. The President of the Republic of Slovenia supports all the efforts made thus far in reaching an agreement on a comprehensive package that is to the benefit of the Slovene national minority in Austrian Carinthia, including those endeavours that encourage a suitable and legally sustainable solution to the issue of bilingual topographic signs.