Press release
Let us not be provoked! Good neighborly relations with Slovenia and peaceful coexistence in Carinthia must not be endangered
We don't want to go back in history
Instead, the path to a peaceful European future should be further paved with confidence-building measures.
The finite recognition of the German-speaking ethnic group as an autochthonous minority could also contribute to this.
The relations between Austria and Slovenia have been seen as clear for years. Now if the Slovenian MP Zmago Jelinčič for the 100th anniversary, the legitimacy of the Carinthian referendum is in doubt, that's how to reject it diplomatically, However, as a Member of Parliament's individual opinion, it must not endanger good neighborly relations. For many years, Heimatdienst and the Carinthian consensus group have been holding a joint commemoration of the victims of the struggles for Carinthia in Völkermarkt 1919/20 confidence-building measures.
With the motto "They died believing in their homeland, because politics was unable, to resolve the conflicts peacefully " the Victims on both sides thought, thus also the Yugoslav "fighters for the northern border", the former military opponents in the Carinthian defense. That made it possible, that last year the leadership of the largest traditional association of the former “fighters around the northern border” from Slovenia also took part in this commemoration. This should have an exemplary effect. Instead of taking backward positions, confidence-building measures on both sides of the Karawanken should sustainably consolidate cross-border reconciliation.
In this sense, the fulfillment of a recent all-party resolution in Parliament to recognize the German-speaking ethnic group in Slovenia as an autochthonous minority could further strengthen relations between Austria and Slovenia.
For the Carinthian homeland service
Chairman Josef Feldner
image: 6. Cross-border commemorative sacrifice, Stadtfriedhof Vö ?? lkermarkt (Image source: fritzpress)
