President discusses the position of the Slovenian community in Italy

Ljubljana, 26.10.2011  |  press release

President of the Republic of Slovenia Dr Danilo Türk held talks with the heads of the two umbrella organisations for Slovenians in Italy, namely the president of the Slovenian Cultural and Economic Union, Rudi Pavšič, and the president of the Council of Slovenian Organisations, Drago Štoka. They discussed the situation of the Slovenian community in Italy from the standpoint of relations between Slovenia and Italy. The minister for Slovenians abroad, Dr Boštjan Žekš, and Slovenia's consul general in Trieste, Vlasta Valenčič Pelikan, also attended the meeting.

The meeting's participants noted that relations between Slovenia and Italy are developing well and that progress has been recorded in several fields of cooperation. They also touched upon topical minority issues and highlighted the need to convene a government roundtable meeting to address the issues of the Slovenian community in Italy as soon as possible. In their opinion, this represents an important step forward in the consolidation of past achievements in this field and in the establishment of the institutional frameworks that will, on the basis of current results, further strengthen the Slovenian community's position.