NEWS

Prime Minister Pahor meets representatives of Italian national community

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, today received the representatives of the Italian community living in Slovenia. The meeting focused on the situation of the community and the role of the Slovenian Government in safeguarding its interests. In his statement to the press following the meeting, Mr Pahor emphasised that the economic and social crisis resulted in rationalisation at all levels, including financial resources earmarked for minorities: "It is in the interest of the Slovenian Government to spare the minority population the impact of the crisis as much as possible and, given current circumstances, to do everything to ensure that the Italian and Hungarian national communities could further develop in Slovenia as two autochthonous communities well accepted by the majority population.«

    

(Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA)

        

In this context, Mr Pahor added that the Slovenian Government does not want them to assimilate, but, like Slovenes in Italy and other countries, to maintain their identity and strengthen their cultural self-confidence. In his statement to the press after the meeting, the President of the Coastal Italian National Community, Flavio Forlani, said that the current problems perceived by the Community are actually much bigger. Nevertheless, they are satisfied with the fact that they can count on the Slovenian Government and that it is willing to help them. This will also be the topic of the talks on the occasion of Prime Minister Pahor's next visit to the representatives of the Coastal Italian National Community.