Polozaj i prava nacionalnih manjina u Republici Sloveniji

In: Politicka misao, Band 38, Heft 3, S. 106-121

Abstract

Focuses on the ethnic structure & the system of protecting the rights of national minorities in an ethnically plural Slovenia. According to the 1991 census, 87.8% of the country's population is Slovenian, & the rest are Croats, Serbs, Muslims, Italians, Hungarians, Romanies, members of other smaller ethnic groups, ethnically uncommitted persons, & individuals with regional identities. The Slovenian Constitution guarantees to all individuals, not only to Slovenian citizens, the right to expression & protection of ethnic identity. In line with the Constitution, the author distinguishes several basic categories of ethnic communities: the Slovenian people, the autochthonous minorities (Hungarians & Italians), the Romanies, the nonautochthonous (immigrant) minority groups whose members are Slovenian citizens, &, finally, the members of immigrant groups who are not Slovenian citizens. The Slovenian concept of the protection of autochthonous minority communities guarantees to the members of these minorities collective & individual rights. Their political representation in the Slovenian national parliament is guaranteed. The ethnic community of Romanies enjoys a high level of protection of their minority rights, allowing for a number of specific features of their social structure & taking into consideration their territorial dispersion & a low level of organization. The rights of the nonautochthonous ethnic communities are protected in a somewhat lesser degree. The author concludes that in Slovenia the constitutional & legal protection of ethnic minorities & their members is exemplary & can serve as a model to other countries. 1 Table, 17 References. Adapted from the source document.