Slovenia Adopts Declaration on Yugoslav Communities

The declaration, passed Tuesday, does not introduce any changes in the legal status of the communities or new obligations for the government, but lays out the parliament's general stance on these communities, Slovenian news agency STA reported.

The document names the Albanian, Bosniak, Montenegrin, Croat, Macedonian and Serb communities in Slovenia, saying their members have the right to organise based on ethnicity, as well as use and improve their language and culture, contributing to the multiculturalism of Slovenia.

The declaration, passed with 63 votes in favor and three opposed, notes that Slovenia will not only allow but encourage such activities, and endeavor to create the legislative framework to provide financial and other support.

The only concrete measure in the declaration is the creation of an advisory body within the government, which will serve as a forum for organised debate between representatives of ethnic groups and state officials.

Ljubljana has faced severe criticism about its policy towards thousands of Yugoslav citizens living in Slovenia when it declared its independence in 1991.

Almost 26,000 people, mainly nationals of other Yugoslav republics, were deleted from Slovenia’s permanent residence registry in 1992. Many of the erased, including people who had lived in the country for years, either left Slovenia after their records were erased or were deported. 

According to the Slovenian Interior Ministry, about 7,300 of these people acquired Slovenian citizenship by January 2009, while around 3,600 received permanent residency status.

There are no data on the status of more than 13,000 people affected by the erasure.

The deletion is considered one of the gravest human rights violations in independent Slovenia.

The Constitutional Court ruled the erasure illegal twice, once in 1999 and again in 2003, and said that that those affected should have their status of permanent resident reinstated retroactively from the day the records were deleted.

Several measures have been adopted by the government and parliament in recent years in an effort to resolve the status of these people, but the European Court of Human Rights in July 2010 ruled in favour of several erased people who argued that they had been deprived of the right to acquire citizenship or preserve their permanent residence status in 1991.