Photo: Boštjan Podlogar/Office of the President of the Republic
President Pirc Musar: Intolerance towards members of the Slovenian community calls for decisive action by the Austrian authorities
As part of her working visit to the Austrian Carinthia, President of the Republic of Slovenia Nataša Pirc Musar visited the Peršman Homestead, where she toured the permanent museum exhibition on the fate of the Carinthian Slovenian community and the partisan resistance during World War II. She also met with representatives of the Peršman Association, including descendants of the Sadovnik and Kogoj families, who were victims of Nazism, as well as with representatives of the Association of Carinthian Partisans and Friends of the Anti-Fascist Resistance. She thanked them for keeping the memory of the resistance and of the Carinthian Slovenian victims of the Nazi regime alive.
Železna Kapla/Bad Eisenkappel, 26 Feb 2026
President Pirc Musar met with young Carinthian Slovenians, who are representatives of student and secondary school organisations. They discussed the future of young people in Austrian Carinthia. She emphasised that the commitment of these young people filled her with optimism about the development of the Slovenian national community in the region. Expressing their commitment to even closer cooperation and a unified stance, the young Carinthian Slovenians pledged to act with a "strong voice both externally and internally" on behalf of the Slovenian community in Carinthia. Their self-confidence and commitment as the future guardians of national memory is particularly valuable. Therefore, in the President's view, it is all the more unacceptable that young people were the target of a harsh and unlawful police intervention at the Peršman Homestead last summer.
The President said that the incident at the Peršman Homestead on 27 June 2025 had caused considerable indignation in Slovenia. She reaffirmed Slovenia's support for, and solidarity with, the Slovenian national community in Austrian Carinthia on this occasion.
She then exchanged views with representatives of umbrella and other organisations of the Slovenian national community on key issues concerning the community's existence and development. Slovenia supports the Slovenian national minority in Austria in their efforts against the marginalisation of their history, language, and culture, and remains committed to providing comprehensive support for the long-term regulation of minority rights in accordance with Article 7 of the Austrian State Treaty.
President Pirc Musar also shared these views with Carinthia Governor Peter Kaiser. She expressed her satisfaction at the successful cooperation between the Republic of Slovenia and the state of Carinthia in many areas in recent years. She welcomed the work of the Slovenia–Carinthia Joint Committee and the dynamic economic cooperation between partners on both sides of the border. The President thanked the Governor for his personal contribution to fostering relations between Slovenia and Carinthia, which has also had a positive impact at the interstate level. She also recognised his contribution to coexistence and dialogue, which benefits the Slovenian national minority in Austrian Carinthia. As the President emphasised, Slovenia welcomes all activities of the state of Carinthia that contribute to the progress of the Slovenian minority in Austrian Carinthia and increase its visibility and acceptance. The minority is an irreplaceable part of the state's identity and cultural diversity.
President Pirc Musar expressed her hope that Austria would recognise the pain experienced by the Carinthian Slovenians, thus expediting the resolution of issues concerning the Peršman Homestead and all other pending matters relating to the Carinthian Slovenians.
Slovenia expects to receive strengthened support from both the state and federal authorities in resolving all outstanding issues relating to the status and the exercise of the rights of the Slovenian national minority in Austria, in line with the commitments under the Austrian State Treaty. The President particularly emphasised the need for faster progress in reforming the bilingual judiciary and the use of the Slovenian language in public administration, as well as for improving the quality of bilingual education at all levels.
Slovenia also expects all incidents of intolerance or non-acceptance of the Slovenian minority to be thoroughly investigated and appropriately sanctioned. Instead of a constant flow of new administrative explanations, Slovenia expects the consistent and prioritised implementation of all the recommendations contained in the Austrian Ministry of the Interior's analytical commission report on the incident at the Peršman Homestead, in line with the principles of a state governed by the rule of law.
President Pirc Musar concluded her visit to Austrian Carinthia with a meeting with the mayors of the five Slovenian and nine Austrian border municipalities that cooperate within the framework of the Karawanken-Karavanke UNESCO Global Geopark. This is a best practice example of cross-border regional development in a frontier area.
