The official visit of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša, to Slovenian Istria and the Karst began with a meeting with representatives of the Italian ethnic minority. After the 2005 visit of government ministers to the region, the Prime Minister called again for direct insight into the region’s prospects for development and the progress made in the past two years.

(Photo: Arsen Perić/Salomon 2000)

As the Prime Minister pointed out after the meeting, the community faces real problems. The parties to the meeting assessed that several issues have been resolved in the past two years, while some are still being dealt with, as they cannot be resolved overnight. They agreed that there are new challenges on the horizon, which will require cooperation, as this is the only way to strengthen the position of the Italian community.

“One of these challenges is regional legislation,” the Prime Minister said, pointing out that in the regions where members of the Italian and Hungarian minorities live the constitutional roles of these communities will also have to be taken into account. According to the Prime Minister, a good part of the discussion focused on how to ensure this with the legislation currently being prepared.

The Prime Minister also stressed that the Slovenian constitution does not allow the creation of regions with special status. “We have found that the name under which the region is going to be known is not of key importance; it is the content that is important. And, as far as the content is concerned, in the two regions where members of the respective communities live, the government is prepared to ensure all necessary conditions to support the existence and development of both national communities,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister then met with representatives of the MC Medicor Cardiology Centre in Koper. They mainly talked about the possibility of enlarging their area of expertise, especially in the field of pacemaker implantation and peripheral vein surgery. On this occasion, the Prime Minister also said he was pleased that the waiting times for heart surgery in Slovenia have been shortened.

Tomorrow, the Prime Minister will have a working meeting with the cabinet in Portorož, followed by a meeting with the project group for the University of the Mediterranean. He will then visit the Lipica Stud Farm. This will be followed by a meeting of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia with mayors, businesspeople, deputies and state councillors from Slovenian Istria and the Karst. In the evening, the government members’ football team will take on a team of local politicians and businesspeople at a charity match in the village of Hrpelje.