Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia is pleased to welcome the Decision on the establishment, composition, organization and tasks of the Council of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for matters concerning members of ethnic communities of the peoples of the former Yugoslavia living in the Republic of Slovenia, which the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted at its 20th ordinary meeting of 22 August 2013.

This body was dissolved in May 2012 by the Government's decision of the then Prime Minister, and austerity measures were cited as justification for such a decision.

This new decision of the current Slovenian Government re-established the Council, to which representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia and Minister Ivan Mrkic, himself, had been requesting in all the discussions they had with Slovenian officials last year, i.e. since October 2012.

The re-established Council will be responsible for reviewing all matters concerning ethnic communities, for stating its opinion on the draft decisions of the Government and Government Ministries, monitoring and evaluating the compliance and exercise of the rights of ethnic groups from the former Yugoslavia. Its responsibilities also include measures for the preservation, development and promotion of ethnic and national identity of these ethnic communities.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia expects that the cooperation with the Republic of Slovenia in this field will be further promoted. We believe that the Serbs in Slovenia should be granted the status of a national minority, as Slovenians in Serbia are already considered as a national minority.