MINELRES: Fwd: RFE/RL: Slovenia's Invisible Minority Groups(s)
MINELRES moderator
[email protected]
Mon Aug 12 09:14:00 2002
Original sender: Greek Helsinki Monitor <[email protected]>
RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
___________________________________________________________
RFE/RL Balkan Report
Vol. 6, No. 28, 2 August 2002
SLOVENIA'S INVISIBLE MINORITY GROUP(S). At the University of Ljubljana
this past spring, my third-year students tried to work out an outline
for an essay on minority groups in Slovenia. They started by listing the
first groups that came to mind: Italians, Hungarians, Bosnian Muslims,
Albanians, and Roma (Gypsies). Considering that each of these - with the
exception of the Bosnian Muslims at 1.36 percent - numbers less than 0.5
percent of Slovenia's population, they felt they were doing fairly well,
until I pointed out that they had omitted the first-, second-, and
fifth-most-numerous minority groups: Croats, Serbs, and Montenegrins.
Awareness of the Hungarians and Italians (ranking fourth and eighth,
respectively, in the 1991 census) is explained by their relatively high
profile: signs in officially bilingual areas and constitutionally
guaranteed protections accentuate their presence (see "RFE/RL Balkan
Report," 8 March 2002). Bosnian Muslims (ranked third) likely stand out
because of intense media focus on their plight as refugees, both in
Slovenia and elsewhere. Everyone knows at least one or two Albanians
(ranked seventh), as they have become entrenched in Slovenia as
confection-shop owners and greengrocers. And, as most everywhere, the
Roma (ranked ninth) attract more attention than they probably deserve or
wish.
In contrast, the Croats, Serbs, and Montenegrins go relatively unnoticed
in Slovenian society. Together with the Bosnian Muslims, their language
background - if one may still refer to a Serbo-Croatian language -
enables them to switch to Slovenian fairly easily, should they care to
do so. If not, they are nonetheless easily understood. Their hair, eyes,
and skin do not distinguish them from the range of features encountered
among Slovenes. Also, aside from the small historical settlement of
Serbs and Croats in Bela Krajina and concentrations in industrial
centers such as Jesenice and Ljubljana, these groups have no strong
association with any particular region of Slovenia. All of these factors
make it relatively simple for Serbo-Croatian speakers to pass unnoticed
in Slovenia, or even to assimilate.
It is problematic, however, to speak of a Serbo-Croatian-speaking
minority in Slovenia, inasmuch as the members of this group do not have
a sense of collective identity. The Serbs and Croats have considered
themselves separate peoples since the beginning of their recorded
histories. And whatever their earlier histories, the Montenegrins and
Bosnian Muslims were officially proclaimed separate peoples in Tito's
Yugoslavia and were accordingly counted separately in censuses - even
though the Muslims had to wait until the 1971 census to be treated as
fully equal to the Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Macedonians, and
Montenegrins. Today, the old debate continues as to whether the
Montenegrins are a separate people or a special branch of the Serbian
nation, but Bosnian Muslims are very unlikely to identify themselves as
either Serbs or Croats.
In addition, the category of Yugoslav nationality - generally claimed by
children of mixed marriages or by those who, for whatever reason, choose
not to identify with a particular nationality - has been around since
the 1953 Yugoslav census. Even in the "best case" scenario in the 1991
census - that is, artificially combining all of the Croats, Serbs,
Muslims, Montenegrins, and Yugoslavs - the number of Serbo-Croatian
speakers in Slovenia officially stands at a relatively modest 143,980
people, or 7.3 percent of the population of Slovenia. This fails to meet
even the low 10 percent threshold that Slovenia has asked of Austria for
according Slovenian ethnic communities there the right to bilingual
signs.
Although the ex-Yugoslav minorities easily outnumber the Italian and
Hungarian minorities in Slovenia, the constitutional rights of these
latter two groups are based on the controversial principle that they
alone represent indigenous minorities. Nonetheless, the individually
small numbers and the fragmentation of the Serbo-Croatian-speaking
population make it difficult to implement culturally oriented services
for these groups. Today it is difficult to imagine a Slovenian library
setting aside a section for Serbo-Croatian literature without it being
branded an anachronism - but even more difficult to envision parallel
sections for Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, and even Montenegrin
literature. Although this does not excuse alleged discrimination against
minority groups (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 17 May 2002), it does
provide some insight into inaction.
On 8 June, the daily "Delo" published an apprehensive article addressing
the issue of voting rights for resident aliens in Slovenia. In the
elections scheduled for this fall, foreigners with permanent residency
in Slovenia will be entitled not only to vote for mayors and members of
their municipal councils but also to run for the latter position.
Estimates are that some 18,000 resident aliens will qualify to vote or
run for office this November. Illustrating the article was a drawing by
Adriano Janezic. It takes some effort to determine that the distorted
figure, casting a ballot with a thick-lipped leer, is human. Between its
boar-tusk nose ornament, the tattoos on its bared chest, its loincloth,
and the spear in its left hand, the message is clear: This is a
foreigner, not one of us.
The "Delo" article ends by reassuring readers that it is unlikely that
all the foreigners will exercise their right to vote, and even less
likely that they will run for office. Moreover, legislation does not
permit foreigners to join Slovenian political parties if they are not
citizens of an EU state - and, without party backing, such foreigners
are unlikely to secure enough votes for election.
This year at the polls, Slovenes may not even realize that they are
standing next to foreigners at the ballot boxes. The foreigners most
likely to be encountered - Croats, Serbs, and Bosnian Muslims - are
unlikely to bring along their spears and loincloths. (Donald F. Reindl)
-------------------
Balkan Human Rights List
Subscribe: [email protected]
Unsubscribe: [email protected]
Home:
Balkan Human Rights Web Pages: http://www.greekhelsinki.gr
The Balkan Human Rights List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/balkanhr
The Greek Human Rights List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/greekhr
Center of Documentation and Information on Minorities in Europe -
Southeast Europe: http://www.cedime.net