"Discrimination"

Kunasek follows up in the anthem dispute with Slovenia

Styrian Governor Mario Kunasek

(Bild: Pail Sepp/Sepp Pail)

The anthem dispute with Slovenia is entering the next round: while the Foreign Ministry in Ljubljana is insisting on "territorial integrity and sovereignty", Styrian Governor Mario Kunasek (FPÖ) is firing back: "Unlike the Slovenian ethnic group in Austria, old Austrians are still being discriminated against in Slovenia!" 

Slovenia has called on the new Styrian provincial government to be "prudent" in its plan to safeguard the national anthem under constitutional law and has reaffirmed its "territorial integrity and sovereignty". The government program of the FPÖ-ÖVP government states: "The state anthem, the 'Dachsteinlied', is to be included in the state constitution."

According to the Slovenian Foreign Ministry, the plan neglects the historical context in which the Dachsteinlied originated.

The posting by Governor Kunasek in full length:

Kunasek fires back
Kunasek reiterated on Tuesday that, as Governor of Styria, he is committed to the national anthem. It is an important symbol for our province. Anyone who sees this attitude as an attack on sovereignty and the rule of law should ask themselves what the legal recognition of minorities on their territory is like.

"Old Austrians are exposed to various forms of discrimination " 
"Unlike the Slovenian ethnic group in Austria, ethnic Austrians of German mother tongue in Slovenia are still subject to various forms of discrimination and are not recognized as an autochthonous ethnic group. The Slovenian state could finally take action here and immediately take the Krško high-security reactor off the grid."

Greens against "nationalist symbolic politics"
The Styrian Greens, however, are calling for an "immediate end to this nationalistic symbolic policy". "Instead of addressing the real concerns of the people of Styria, the state government is relying on divisive provocations," said Sandra Krautwaschl, head of the Styrian Green Party.