The Carinthian home service in discussion with representatives
from Slovenia, Italy and Croatia:
▶ scientific symposium in Klagenfurt
▶ and meeting of cultures in Malborgeth
Am 16. A scientific symposium was held in Klagenfurt on the initiative of the Carinthian Homeland Service on September 1st of that year, dedicated to peace work in the Alps-Adriatic region. Together with personalities from the Central Association of Carinthian Slovenes and personalities from Slovenia, Friuli and Croatia discussed "old conflicts and new cooperation", about "old contrasts and new views of history".
Moderated by Marjan Sturm, the former chairman of the Central Association of Carinthian Slovenes, the former Carinthian Governor Gerhard Dörfler debated with the former Slovenian State Secretary Boris Jesih and Stefano Mazzolini, the Vice President of the Regional Council of Friuli Venezia Giulia, and Manuel Jug, the new chairman of the Central Association of Carinthian Slovenes and Hans Haider, the chairman of the association "Remembering" about the development of the Alps-Adriatic region during the last century. Very different positions were explained, but the common goal, namely, to preserve peace at all costs, Are defined. One agreed, that peace in our region is by no means a matter of course and that this peace must always begin at home.
That the greetings of the governor of Carinthia, Peter Kaiser, but also the presentations of the speakers from Slovenia were presented in the Slovenian language, was just as remarkable for an event organized by the Carinthian Homeland Service as the fact that it took place with the organizational participation of personalities from the Central Association of Carinthian Slovenes. This alone was already seen as a strong signal of the peace work of the KHD in association with the Carinthian consensus group.
The fact too, that the chairman of the Council of Carinthian Slovenes, Valentin Inzko, attended the event as a listener, caused a stir. In the Council of Carinthian Slovenes there has been great skepticism about the peace- and communication work of the Carinthian homeland service
At the second panel discussion of this symposium, which was headed by KHD chairman Andreas Mölzer, discussed the Klagenfurt historian Ulfried Burz, and his colleague Hellwig Valentin, the Slovenian historian Danijel Grafenauer from the Club of Carinthian Slovenes in Maribor and Arthur Rossbacher from the Club "tre populi" together with the honorary chairman of the home service Josef Feldner and the representative of the Croatian World Congress, Josip Stjepandic.
Ulfried Burz described the development of Carinthia since the referendum 1920 and the change in the old historical images, which were largely shaped by German nationalism, in the direction of new historical images, who see the referendum primarily as a democratic act and appreciate the Slovenian participation in the vote for Austria. The Slovenian historian Danijel Grafenauer described the Alps-Adriatic region as a laboratory for the development of a region formerly characterized by serious conflicts into a region of peace. Furthermore, the Klagenfurt historian Hellwig Valentin drew a picture of cross-border cooperation in the Alps-Adriatic region and described this as an important crystallization point for European integration. The Croatian representative described the current situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where the picture currently shows the opposite of a peace region. Conflicts dominate here, Violence and national hatred. Using the example of the “tre populi” club, Rossbacher described civil society initiatives, which specifically enabled the development of the Alps-Adriatic peace region and Josef Feldner pleaded for a dialogue between the former conflicting parties without national self-abandonment.
Meeting of cultures - a Senza Confini summer festival
Am 17. Despite the rainy and stormy weather, the meeting of cultures took place in the Malborgeth Canal Valley, which the Heimatdienst is organizing together with the two Kanaltal cultural associations for the second time. This meeting of cultures first took place in Arnoldstein in 2018 instead of, 2020 it was canceled because of Corona, to now in the beautiful Palazzo Veneziano with the participation of numerous cultural groups from Slovenia, Friuli and Carinthia to go on stage.
free beer, sponsored by the Villach Brewery, Carinthian bacon, Ham and Sassaka breads, sponsored by the Wernberg butchery Fruhmann, Friulian pasta and Friulian wine, as well as Slovenian cream cakes formed the culinary supporting program for a colorful range of musical performances from all parts of the Alps-Adriatic region. Connecting peoples and working for peace consists primarily of friendly encounters between people. And so visitors from Slovenia and Carinthia were able to celebrate something like a Senza Confini summer festival together with the hosts from Friuli.
Supported by that
