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Slovenian President on the situation of the Slovene national community in Italy

Kobarid, 16.1.2010  |  speech


Address by the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, at the 40th New Year's gathering of the Slovenians from the Province of Udine and the Posočje region
Kobarid, 16 January 2010


Slovenian President Dr Danilo Türk attends the 40th gathering of the Slovenians from the Province of Udine and the Posočje region (photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA)Fellow citizens,
Dear participants of the 40th gathering of the Slovenians from the Province of Udine and the Posočje region,

Thank you very much for your cordial and friendly reception. Firstly, allow me to say that I am greatly honoured to be able to welcome you here in Kobarid at the 40th traditional gathering of the Slovenians from the Province of Udine and the Posočje region. This gathering that has been prospering and steadily gaining vigour over such a long period of time deserves the highest compliments and justifies respect simply because of its traditional character. However, the respect it deserves derives particularly from its content and the message it communicates.

One may also unhesitatingly say that four decades of gatherings are also proof of the significance and vitality of the idea that has inspired them.

But let me first highlight some basic things, the essentials. The inspiration, in itself, is indeed the charming natural scenery of these places. A century ago, the Ljubljana monthly Dom in svet wrote "about these hills and valleys where Slovenians dwell" that "here there is a view so beautiful and overwhelming that it makes you forget everything that is near, enrapturing you with its formidable panorama". This was the view of "Dom in svet" some hundred years ago, long before the first gathering in 1970.

Typical of that period was a natural connection between the Posočje region and the Province of Udine, before the disruption of these ties brought about by wars. The time directly following the two wars, particularly after the Second World War, was also not easy.

Circumstances improved in the 1960s, when first contacts were made between the municipalities on the Slovenian and Italian side – firstly, between Tolmin and Čedad/Cividale. This development was reflected in the co-operation in the area of infrastructure and in other projects. However, substantially less was done for the recognition and consistent respect of rights of the Slovene national minority in the Province of Udine, which did not have the same status as the Slovene communities in the Trieste and Gorizia provinces. This discrimination has been and remains unjust. And its consequences can still be felt.

Cross-border co-operation in those times nevertheless continued and contributed to the improvement of circumstances. In 1970, on the initiative of the Tolmin municipality, which also organised the event, the Slovenians from the Province of Udine, and the Posočje and Veneto region for the first time gathered to mark a reunion at the New Year. Throughout the following four decades, these gatherings not only consolidated mutual human relations, but also political co-operation on both sides of the border, and largely contributed to awareness and promotion of a common Slovenian cultural and language area.

Slovenian President Dr Danilo Türk attends the 40th gathering of the Slovenians from the Province of Udine and the Posočje region (photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA)It is right that today, on this 40th anniversary, we pause to reflect on the Slovenian cultural space. Today, this area is a fact, a legitimate fact in contemporary Europe, within a Europe that is uniting. Europe itself is developing into a large common cultural space of all nations and all cultures, a cultural space that provides an opportunity to all nations and all cultures. Obviously, this space cannot be homogeneous. The unity and collectivity of this large European cultural space must be searched for in its diversity and the nuances of its beauty. To this end, we must be vigorous and innovative, and find new forms.

Therefore, I am pleased to hear news, ideas, expectations and hopes in connection with the development of the cultural centre in Špeter (San Pietro al Natisone), which should become a modern multimedia, multi-function centre and provide further impetus to the development and culture of Slovenians in the Beneška Slovenija (Slavia Veneta), as well as new conditions intertwining all the cultures in this area and in the wider region. This is our European future. Such concrete projects are indeed a means of building it, and we must therefore find the energy, money and content for such projects, and also devote our efforts to projects of this kind in the future.

Independent Slovenia and Italy have established close and friendly ties. We have made good progress in many areas. Slovenia's accession to the European Union and the introduction of the Schengen border regime have created conditions not only for improved movement of goods, but also of ideas and people. This movement, however, will be beneficial only if people from these places can give it the right and appropriate substance.

Therefore, it would be reasonable to expect that, in these new circumstances, those open issues relating to the situation of Slovenians in Italy that, unfortunately, still have to be mentioned, can find a solution. The historical debt that remains unsettled is largely the result of the failure to implement laws, a circumstance that can, regrettably, still be observed on the Italian side. The Slovene national community in Italy remains concerned for many reasons and I find it right to use this opportunity to mention some of them.

The implementation of statutory rights by local administrative authorities in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia still lacks consistency. Due to the announced reduction of the Italian national budget, the funding of the Slovenian minority organisations is, like last year, threatened in 2010. It is positive that there are also signs of hope indicating that this problem will be resolved. However, today, this problems still remains unresolved and there are therefore calls for determination to find a solution to it in the places where it should be resolved.

The funding of the Slovenian Permanent Theatre in Trieste represents a specific problem. The theatre ensures the presence of a cultural and theatrical repertoire in the Slovene language, a repertoire that is also accessible to the majority Italian-speaking population. If the rules of the country with a national minority clearly lay down that the latter must be provided with financial aid by the state, then one must insist that these obligations be met. It is good news that the funds for this theatrical season have been largely ensured and it is expected that this season will be successful. But it is also necessary that this season be followed by many other seasons and that we use the potential of the Slovenian Permanent Theatre in Trieste for intertwining different cultures, for the cultural stimulus so much required by the large, pluralistic, new and common European cultural space.

We should also be inquiring about the adequacy of arrangements establishing the Slovene language in administrative and legal procedures and about the visible implementation of bilingualism in the regions of Trieste, Gorizia and Udine.

Recently, a particular point of great concern is the negative attitude in certain places in Rezija, where some believe that the dialects they use are not of Slovenian origin and have therefore changed the inscriptions on local signposts.

It is also a matter of dispute whether education of children in the Slovene language may indeed be subject to cost-saving measures. Since they are protected by international agreements, the schools of national minorities should be subject to different, and more delicate, treatment.

So, there are still a number of unresolved issues left. Besides those already mentioned, I would like to address another issue, which is seldom on the agenda when problems of this kind are discussed – the issue of media and specifically the funding the Slovenian media on the other side of the border. It has been widely accepted that they cannot possibly operate, solely and exclusively, according to market principles. Reception of television programmes in the Slovenian language in the Province of Udine also remains an issue. The contribution of these media and the accessibility of TV signals are also part of the large cultural area of pluralistic Europe.

There are, of course, two sides to the role of the media, particularly the electronic media. If I paraphrase your local saying, which says that "two bells must toll that real truth be heard", we should ask ourselves, whether we have really done everything to improve our mutual understanding and knowledge on both sides of the border, to hear "two bells". Could we have done more in the past to eliminate the residue of past times? Have we, today, come far enough to do even more to discard prejudice?

Sometimes we are concerned because prejudice is still widespread. Recent observations have shown a lack of willingness to simply acknowledge, in an official act, the fact that fascism inflicted misfortune on many people, both Italian and Slovenian, including the Slovenian writer, Boris Pahor. And we have also seen that, owing to this unwillingness to acknowledge a simple fact, the renowned writer was prevented from of becoming a citizen of honour of the city of Trieste. This kind of observed and, unfortunately, persisting prejudices must be removed.

If there may once have been possible grounds for the persistence of prejudice, for a historical resentment and a justified mistrust, we must say that today none of this holds true. This must be articulated clearly and distinctly. Today there are no reasons for prejudice, for mistrust or for anything negative left over by history. On this point, we unfortunately suffer from a certain mental backlog, and the Schengen border regime has not abolished the borders still existing in our minds. These are obstacles to finally starting to tackle the issues in a relaxed and appropriate manner and to stop living with the relics of outdated fear. It is high time that they disappeared from the consciousness of those who still harbour such prejudices.

We are indeed in a situation that could and should be better. Better, because Europe is increasingly becoming a large common and pluralistic cultural space.

Within their powers and against the background of their problems, the traditional New Year gatherings of the Slovenians from the Province of Udine and the Posočje region have been for a long time, and are each year again, an important part of making things better and making the cultural area, of which we speak and largely still only dream, a reality. For this very reason, and because of the importance of this mission, participants, and in particular the organisers of these 40 reunions, deserve our special gratitude.

I wish you another 40 such gatherings. According to your tradition, they also represent an event marking the New Year. I wish you a happy New Year, and a successful 2010. I am expressing this wish convinced that this gathering will be followed by many others, and that in the coming years we will come together with increasing reasons for happiness and increasingly aware of the fact that we are building something big, something important – for our neighbouring nations, for Slovenia and Italy, two friendly neighbouring countries and for Europe as a whole. Thank you and, once again, a happy New Year!
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