NEWS

Prime Minister Borut Pahor attends ceremony honouring the erection of the first bilingual place-name signs in Austrian Carinthia following the adoption of the amendment to the National Minorities Act

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, at the invitation of Austrian Federal Chancellor Werner Faymann, today attended the ceremony honouring the erection of bilingual place-name signs in line with the Act amending the National Minorities Act. In Klagenfurt, Prime Minister Pahor first met with representatives of the three umbrella organisations of the Slovene national minority in Austria in the morning, with the focus of discussions centring on the topical minority issue. Mr Pahor pointed out that this agreement was reached on the basis of mutual trust and was an 'important step forward in the right direction', which, however, does not mean that all outstanding issues have been resolved. The representatives of the minority also stressed that this was a positive and significant phase in resolving outstanding issues, but the erection of new signposts does not imply that the Austrian State Treaty has been fulfilled. They also pointed to the fact that, under the adopted municipal clause, mayors may take decisions relating to the erection of new signposts. At the same time, representatives of minority organisations share the same opinion that the bilingual signpost solution serves as a solid basis for the regulation of other burning issues faced by the minority.

   

In his speech at the main ceremony held at Landhdaus in Klagenfurt, Prime Minister Pahor labelled this day as a day of tolerance, peace and good neighbourly relations 'Today we are sending a message that our future focus will be to the benefit of our people. We will solve the present and future challenges together. We will respect the differences between us - political, national and others among them', stressed Prime Minister Pahor. Good neighbours, loyal friends and allies have helped to overcome these differences by reaching satisfactory compromises to the benefit of the majority. In this context, he added that the partial implementation of Article 7 of the Austrian State Treaty was an important sign for Slovenia: 'This does not mean that the Article has become obsolete, but that the action taken by the Austrian authorities is action in the right direction'.

 

(Photo: Daniel Novakovič/SPA)

 

In the early afternoon, Pahor and Faymann also attended the erection of the first bilingual signpost. In his short speech, Pahor expressed his opinion that 'we have realised that boundaries can only be moved to the benefit of people – boundaries for standards, personal and collective – in an amicable and neighbourly atmosphere. As a result, we have reached this milestone at a historic moment, coming shortly after the 20th anniversary of Slovenia’s independence. 'This is not the end of the path, but merely the beginning – a beginning in the right direction,' stressed the Slovenian Prime Minister. Austrian Chancellor Faymann, however, explained that the compromise on bilingual signposting embodied the Austrian spirit. 'Today is a special day for Carinthia and special day for Austria,' he said, adding that all people should be proud of their language.