Erased:

1
Erased Slovenias troubled
relationship with Croatia and
its ex-Yugoslav
minorities
Kaitlin Dunn dunnks_at_uwec.edu Geography 308
(Russia and Eastern Europe) Professor Zoltan
Grossman University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Spring 2005
www.carniola.org
2
Population of approximately 2 million
Ethnically, 92 Slovene
First of the Yugoslav republics to
declare independence in 1991 Known for its
economic and political stability
travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-577906-map_of_slove
nia-i - 10k -
3
Over the past 14 years, Slovenia has begun rid
itself of its association with Yugoslavia
It has, in many ways, turned toward the West by
joining the EU and NATO in 2004
http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2877197.st
m
It has also created conflicts with other
ex-Yugoslav groups inside and outside the country
4
The main issue

• Slovenias relationship with its ex-Yugoslav
  neighbors
• -Slovenias treatment of ex- Yugoslav
  minorities
• -Slovenias disputes with Croatia

5
Slovenias Minority Issue
The country is nearly a nation-state because it
is so ethnically homogenous
Slovenia has encountered contentious minority
issues in the past
Historic Trieste dispute with Italy -Tug of
war between Italy and Slovenia over mountain and
coastal land on the Adriatic, home to both
ethnic Italians and Slovenes -Also, this land
is now the main area of dispute between Croatia
and Slovenia (Bay of Piran)
6
Who are Slovenias Minorities?
Austrians
Italians
Roma
Hungarians
http//www.uvi.si/eng/slovenia/photos/
7
Three of these groups have special minority
status in Slovenia
The Italians, Hungarians, and Austrians are known
as historic nationalities, people who have
historic ethnic claims to the land They are very
prominent in society and many special concessions
have been made to accommodate them, such as
bilingual language signs in some areas The Roma
population has some constitutional rights, but
not to the same extent as the other groups Each
represents less than 1 of Slovenias population
http//www.slovenia-tourism.si/?photoalbum14
8
However
Slovenia largest minority groups are its former
Yugoslav neighbors Croats Serbs Bosnian
Muslims These groups, according to the
international community, have been the targets
of administrative ethnic cleansing by the
Slovenian government
www.stern.de
9
Yugoslavia? What Yugoslavia?
On February 26 1992, thousands of nationals of
other Yugoslav republics who had not
re-registered with the new government were
removed from population records and lost
residency rights, as well as pensions and health
benefits
These were people who had relocated to Slovenia
for various reasons, often times for jobs or
family. Many had been living there for decades at
the time of Slovenian independence
Most were not aware that they had to re-register
as Slovenian citizens until it was too late
These people became known as the Erased
(izbrisani)
12,000 out of 30,000 of the erased had to leave
Slovenia, often for war-torn regions in Croatia,
Bosnia and Serbia
10
What Yugoslavia? Contd
Many in the human rights community consider
Slovenias actions the equivalent of civil
death for these groups
They also contend that ex-Yugoslav nationals
were targeted for elimination solely on account
of the non-Slovene groups into which they were
born.
These minorities have been portrayed as war
criminals, swindlers, undesirables, or
resisters of Slovenian independence by some
Slovene nationalist groups
By the majority of the population, they have
simply been ignored
As of 1999, about 12,000 erased had their
residency rights returned, but were not
compensated for the amount of pension or benefits
they would have received between 1992 and 1999
11
In 2003, Slovenias parliament, under
pressure from the EU, passed a bill to restore
the ex-Yugoslavs citizenship
BUT
http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3620395.stm
In 2004, a referendum held before EU entry
overturned the bill it by an overwhelming margin
The referendum doesnt officially void the
bill, but rather it demonstrated the sentiments
of the Slovenian public on the issue Despite
this, in February 2005, the Slovenian Ministry of
the Interior began issuing residency permits
according to the 2003 bill. So far only
about 4,000 have been given out
12
Reasons for referendum results?
Many blame xenophobic bias
Fears of minorities swaying elections
Flood of refugees straining jobs and resources
fears that compensating the erased will cost
them nearly 2.5 billion euros, or close to 7
of their GDP
And some blame apathy
Many Slovenians are unaware of the minorities
plight because they are almost undistinguishable
from Slovenes
http//www.uvi.si/eng/slovenia/photos/slovenes/
13
The Croatia Issue The minority situation is
joined by Slovenias prickly relationship with
Croatia, its nearest neighbor and origin of
Slovenias largest minority group
Land disputes over the Piran coast
http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3103930.st
m
14
Why do they have such a bad relationship?
The roots of this dispute can be traced to the
last days of Yugoslavia In 1991, Slovenia and
Croatia agreed to coordinate their secession from
Yugoslavia. They signed a joint defense and
intelligence agreement to aid each other in the
event of war with the Serb dominated
Yugoslav government Croatia felt that it would
have a successful secession only if it did so
with Slovenia
Milan Kucan of Slovenia
http//www.uvi.si/10years/independence/addresses/m
ilan-kucan/
The two leaders who created the alliance
Franjo Tudjman of Croatia
http//www.hrt.hr/tudjman/index_eng.html
15
When the JNA (Yugoslav National Army) rolled into
Slovenian territory after its June 25
declaration, Tudjman refused to aid in Slovenias
defense stating It is not in the best interest
of Croatia to interfere in war between Slovenia
and Serbia.
http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/monitoring/media_
reports/1412177.stm
The fighting that followed was known as the
Ten-Day War
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The Brioni Accord
When Slovenia engaged in peace talks with
Yugoslavias leaders on July 8th,they left
Croatia out of the secession agreement. This
meant that Croatia would have to fight for their
independence alone The Brioni Accord was the
final blow to the Slovenia-Croatia alliance. Many
Slovenians felt Croatia got what it deserved for
refusing to aid Slovenia during the Ten-Day
War Because of the bitter results of this
alliance, Croatia and Slovenia never agreed on
the location of some borders
http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/monitoring/media_
reports/1412177.stm
17
Ever since Slovenia was accepted into the EU in
2004, it has claimed several times it will not
support Croatias bid for EU accession due to
their border dispute
http//europa.eu.int/abc/maps/index_en.htm
18
Specifically, Croatia wants Slovenias Adriatic
coastline, the Bay of Piran, which would land
lock Slovenia
They are also arguing over the control and
output of the Krsko nuclear power station
in Slovenia, which the two countries built
jointly in the 1980s. In recent years, Slovenia
cut Croatia off from Krsko energy output. In
response Croatia demanded millions of dollars in
compensation
Other issues Frozen bank deposits
Messy border divisions left over from Yugoslavia
19
The border dispute has created frustrations for
both Slovenians and Croatians
A restaurant where you can eat in Croatia but
have to pay in Slovenia
Residents of these areas are required to carry
special passes to run errands across the border
Home of Jaska Joras, built on top of the
disputed territory
In 2003, Slovenia and Croatia began attempts to
end the land disputes amicably, due to EU
pressure..
http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2987376.st
m
20
However, politics soon get in the way
During Slovenias 2004 parlimentary elections,
conservative candidate Janez Podobnik and others
visited the home of Jaska Joras on the disputed
boundery.
Jaska Joras is considered by Slovenians a
nationalist symbol of their border strife
Podobnik was arrested by Croatian border guards
after he refused to show them his passport
http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3620395.stm
21
Though the incident was little more than a
political stunt to generate media attention for
the election,
it triggered the response of the
Slovenian government and it withdrew its support
of Croatias EU bid, though it backed down a
few days later
And Podobnik didnt even win the election
22
This dispute is relatively small, and luckily has
not escalated beyond minor border skirmishes
and Slovenias repeated threats not to support
Croatias EU bid. However, amongst Slovenes
and Croats in the disputed areas the issue is
still hotly debated, especially among the
growing nationalist movement in Slovenia
23
How will this dispute be resolved?
They have been stalemated for years and cannot
seem to reach an agreement
It will mostly be the EU that prods these two
countries into settling the border
disagreements, especially if Croatia is accepted
into the EU in 2007
The areas of contention are small and could be
solved easily if the two sides put aside their
nationalistic rhetoric and looked the past
events concerning the 1991 secession alliance
24
Sources
Laura Sibler and Alan Little, Yugoslavia death
of a nation (New York Penguin 1997) p.149-152,
166
Making Slovenian Citizens the problem of the
former Yugoslav citizens and asylum seekers
living in Slovenia http//www.seep.ceu.hu/archi
ves/issue41/andreev.pdf
Slovenias Invisible Minority http//lists.delfi
.lv/pipermail/minelres/2002-August/002224.html
The Izbrisani (Erased residents) Issue in
Slovenia http//www.preventgenocide.org/europe/s
lovenia/
Slovenia Restore the rights of the "erased
http//web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR68001
2005?openofENG-2U5
Slovenians mark independence
http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/monitoring/media_
reports/1412177.stm
Slovenia moves to end border disputehttp//news
.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3103930.stm