Concern for the Slovene minority and the Slovene language in Italy will be rewarded

The money, which is allocated to the Slovene minority by Italy, will be distributed according to the new criteria

2. avgust 2018 ob 12.12 • Trieste - MMC RTV SLO

The money, which is allocated to the Slovene minority by Italy, will be distributed according to the new criteria. Foto: Reuters

Slovene minority in Italy is, based on the law protecting the minority, entitled to 10 million euros per year for running national institutes, organizations and associations. This year, Italy is preparing new criteria for distributing this money.

Members of a special working group of both Slovene minority organizations in Italy it trying to change a 25-year long system of sharing the general government contributions for national needs, even at the request of last year's member of Friui – Venezia Giulia. The new regulations are based primarily on assessing the work of the recipients of those contributions.

With such changes, they want to reward those who are most successfully taking care of the Slovenian language, culture and the ethnic heritage with the need of modern time and space.

"This is not some kind of control, it is more about rewarding the work, which enhances the concern for the Slovene minority, the Slovenian language, heritage, traditions and our environment. Those are today's challenges," said a member of the Council of Slovene Organizations Julijan Čavdek. They have already received this year's 10 million euros from Rome. The money is allocated for running the institutions and organizations. The rest 961 thousand euros is going to be distributed on the proposal of the representatives of the national community.

"The regional authorities have so far respected what has been decided by the Regional Consultative Committee," explained Čavdek. The recipient of the state contributions will discuss this new money distribution in September, and the new regulations will come into force next year.