5 October 1992

Doc. 6693

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

on the German-speaking community in Slovenia

presented by Mr F. PROBST and others

1.       The Slovenian government has recognised two minorities in its first Constitution.

2.       Hungarians (approximately 9,000), Italians (approximately 2,100) living in Slovenia have been granted rights enshrined in the Constitution. The German-speaking population group has still not been recognised. The German-speaking population living in Slovenia is estimated at between 5,000 and 15,000. No precise figures are available, however, because the AVNOJ provisions, which have existed since the war and are effectively still in force today, deprived all German-speaking citizens of their rights, preventing them from asserting their ethnic roots for fear of putting their very existence at risk.

3.       The Assembly urges that the Slovenian government recognises the German-speaking minority in Slovenia, and guarantees it civil rights as a minority, in the same way as other population groups, at the constitutional level.

Signed:       F. PROBST, BÖHM, TERNAK, KOVACS, SARKIJARVI, GHESQUIERE, LITHERLAND, RUFFY, TALAY, L. FISCHER, ATKINSON, TARSCHYS, SCHWIMMER, BAUER, KÖNIG