Minority Safepack Initiative (MSPI) supported by German Bundestag parliamentary groups – recognising the position of the German speaking community in Slovenia
Ljubljana, 27th November 2020
Berlin, 27th November 2020 – The 196th session of the National Assembly in the German Bundestag was held, as per the motion put forth by the CDU/CSU and SPD coalition, to discuss the request of the European Commission to launch the Minority Safepack (MSPI) citizens’ initiative, having collected more than 1 million signatures required from EU citizens. In Slovenia the number of signatures collected for the initiative exceeded the required 6,000.
At today’s 196th session of the German Bundestag, the Parliament supported the motion of the CDU/CSU and SPD coalition parties to implement the citizens’ initiative (MSPI) at the EU level. During his speech, Eckhard Pols, Member of the CDU/CSU (Christian Democrats), addressed the unenviable situation of German minorities in Poland and Slovenia: “To this day, the German-speaking minority is still not officially recognized in Slovenia. Our faction therefore very much welcomes the Austrian efforts, those of Austrian Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz during his recent visit to Ljubljana“
Austrian Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz visited Ljubljana in early September. He stated at a joint press conference with his Slovenian counterpart Janez Janša: “There is a strong bond between Austrians and Slovenians. In Austria, we have a Slovenian national community with which we work very well. We would also be grateful if Slovenia recognized the German-speaking community.“
“To this day, the German-speaking minority is still not officially recognized in Slovenia. Our faction therefore very much welcomes the Austrian efforts, those of Austrian Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz during his recent visit to Ljubljana“
Eckhard Pols, Member of the CDU/CSU (Christian Democrats)
The Federation of Cultural Associations of the German-speaking community in Slovenia welcomes the position of Eckhard Pols, a member of the coalition CDU/CSU and chair of the Bundestag committee for refugees, emigrants and the German minority groups, who also referred to the situation of the German-speaking community in Slovenia. We, the Federation of the German-speaking community, will continue to strive for the recognition of the German-speaking community in the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia. We believe that we will achieve this common goal in dialogue with state bodies and the competent ministries of the Republic of Slovenia. We therefore welcome the establishment of a working group for sustainable dialogue with representatives of the German-speaking community in Slovenia, chaired by Minister of Culture Vasko Simoniti.
The German-speaking community once represented the largest national minority in Slovenia. According to its own estimates, the population of the indigenous German-speaking community in Slovenia sits between 3,000 and 5,000 citizens with German as their mother tongue. It is organized in cultural societies throughout Slovenia and is united under the Federation of Cultural Associations of the German-speaking Community in Slovenia.
