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DE RUEHVI #1096/01 2401453
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R 281453Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3227
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENNA 001096 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CE 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM HR AU
 
SUBJECT: BILINGUAL SIGN DISPUTE OVERSHADOWS CHANCELLOR'S SLOVENIA 
VISIT 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: A long-running dispute over bilingual signs in 
Carinthia Province overshadowed Chancellor Faymann's August 26 visit 
to Slovenia, during which Slovenian PM Pahor called on Faymann to 
resolve the issue.  A contact in the Chancellor's office told the 
Ambassador that Faymann will try to find a political solution, but 
said the issue would be difficult to resolve.  Pahor reportedly 
declined Faymann's offer to help mediate Slovenia's border dispute 
with Croatia.  End Summary. 
 
GOA Surprised by Pressure 
------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Juergen Meindl, foreign affairs advisor to Chancellor Faymann 
(SPO), told the Ambassador August 27 that the Austrians were 
surprised by how assertive Pahor was in pressing for a resolution of 
the decades-old dispute over bilingual town signs. 
 
¶3. (U) The Austria State Treaty of 1955 recognizes Slovenes, among 
other groups, as national minorities, and requires that local 
governments provide bilingual town signs (road signs featuring the 
name of the town) , as well as education and media, in communities 
with Slovene or "mixed populations" (i.e. German and Slovene 
speaking).  This was originally interpreted to mean communities in 
which minorities constitute 25 percent or more of the population. 
In 2001, the Constitutional Court ruled that the threshold should be 
lowered to 10 percent.  The Slovene minority in Carinthia has access 
to Slovene language education and media, and bilingual signs have 
been installed in 77 towns.  But the Carinthian Government has, for 
over 30 years, refused to install enough signs to meet either the 25 
percent (91 town signs) or 10 percent (150 town signs) threshold. 
 
A "Trivial" But Difficult Issue 
------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Meindl said the sign issue was "emotionally overloaded" and 
politically difficult to resolve.  On substance, he maintained, the 
matter is trivial, involving the installation of approximately 70 
additional bilingual signs in towns with a total Slovene population 
of about 12,000.  Burgenland Province has erected bilingual signs 
without controversy, but in Carinthia - stronghold of the rightwing, 
nationalist BZO - the government has dug in its heels, he said. 
(Note: History plays a role in sharpening the dispute - 
German-speaking Carinthians recall two short-lived occupations by 
Yugoslavia following each World War, while Slovenes remember 
Austrian domination within the Hapsburg Empire). 
 
¶5. (SBU) After meeting with Faymann, Pahor told reporters the GOA is 
obligated to respect the legal rights of the Slovene minority, and 
rejected the argument that the dispute requires a political 
solution.  Faymann said in an interview with the Austrian daily Der 
Standard that he would be willing to advance a solution against the 
will of the BZO, provided the solution were supported by a 
combination of other parties forming a majority of the Carinthian 
provincial parliament.  Meindl told the Ambassador that Faymann will 
approach the issue cautiously, starting with "informal contacts" in 
the hope that an agreement can be reached "in a couple of months." 
 
¶6. (U) Even before his visit to Slovenia, Faymann had come under 
pressure within Austria to weigh in on the sign issue.  In early 
August, the Vienna weekly Falter published documents indicating that 
prosecutors had dropped a case against Carinthia Governor Gerhard 
Doerfler (BZO) for illegally moving a number of signs on the grounds 
that Doerfler "did not know his actions were illegal."  Justice 
Minister Bandion-Ortner (who is officially independent but was 
nominated by the OVP), denied that her ministry had made mistakes in 
the investigation, and suggested that the issue required the 
Chancellor's intervention. 
 
Pahor Declines GOA Help With Croatia Dispute 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) The dustup over the signs appears to have crowded out other 
bilateral issues during the Chancellor's visit.  However, Faymann 
reportedly did manage to offer Austrian assistance in mediating 
Slovenia's border dispute with Croatia, which Pahor politely 
declined. 
 
Comment: Resolution Will be Difficult 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) This seemingly trivial dispute has plagued Austro-Slovene 
relations for three decades.  Despite the pressure on Faymann, it 
may not be resolved any time soon.  Many Carinthians would resent a 
heavy handed intervention from the national government, and Faymann 
will not want to undermine the SPO's already weak position in the 
province.  For BZO Governor Doerfler, flouting Vienna, and 
Ljubljana, on the sign issue is a reliable way to rally the party's 
 
VIENNA 00001096  002 OF 002 
 
 
nationalist base, and he therefore has little reason to back down. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Because of the sign dispute, and the perception that 
Austria for economic reasons is eager to see Croatia accede to the 
EU as soon as possible, it appears that Slovenia does not view 
Austria as an appropriate mediator in the border dispute with 
Croatia.