Vitaly Portnikov. Jörg Haider's land could be part of Slovenia...

Jörg Haider's land could be part of Slovenia...
Vitaly Portnikov

Date of publication: October 16, 2000

On October 10, Austrian President Thomas Klestil and representatives of the political elite of this country and neighboring regions of Slovenia and Italy gathered in Klagenfurt, the capital of the federal state of Carinthia, whose Prime Minister is the leader of the ultranationalist Freedom Party, Jörg Haider. They gathered to celebrate the anniversary of a historical event: on October 10, 1920, 60% of those who participated in the referendum on the fate of Carinthia (of which 12 thousand were German-speaking and 10 thousand Slovenian-speaking) were in favor of preserving Carinthia in Austria.

After the collapse of Austria-Hungary, the Yugoslav army sought to annex Carinthia to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, even occupying its capital Klagenfurt. Supporters of the preservation of Carinthia in Austria organized a partisan movement, which did not achieve significant success, but drew the attention of the Entente countries to the Carinthian problem. During the Versailles Conference, US President Woodrow Wilson proposed a plebiscite on the future of Carinthia. His anniversary was celebrated that week in Klagenfurt.

In subsequent decades, the confrontation between communities only intensified. Veterans of the Carinthian partisan movement were among the most ardent supporters of National Socialism, and the Slovenes fought against Hitler in Marshal Tito's partisan army. The antagonism was so strong that when bilingual communities decided to install signs and place names in both languages ​​in the 1970s, it led to conflicts and protests. Now in Carinthia, with a population of half a million, there are only 15 thousand people who consider themselves Slovenians. Well, the mood of the main part of the population is best illustrated by the fact that the host of the celebrations in Klagenfurt was Jörg Haider.

During the celebrations, participants spoke exclusively about tolerance, the spirit of Europe and regionalism as alternatives to nationalism. Haider performed in national costume, but against the backdrop of a European banner. “The plebiscite 80 years ago was a victory of regionalism over nationalism, evidence that Carinthia was many decades ahead of Europe ,” he said. “ Loyalty to the Fatherland is now considered by many to be an outdated concept, but every European citizen needs his homeland as a place in which is his soul and heart. Carinthia is a land of tolerance. For decades we have put up with something that has seriously discredited us..." Calling himself a representative of the German-speaking majority, the leader of the Austrian far-right, however, believes that this "does not prevent us from realizing everything that we want requires a minority to preserve its identity . "

Austrian President Thomas Klestil said at the ceremony that "the vote in 1920 was a clear signal of ethnic heterogeneity and the desire for a peaceful life of different national groups ," and added that the preservation of Carinthia in Austria is a merit of the Slovenians. At Klestil’s request, for the first time (!) in all the years of official celebrations of the anniversary of the referendum, a representative of the Slovenian minority also spoke. He welcomed the state government's "new policy of dialogue" with minorities. It was Haider's cabinet that finally managed to install bilingual signs with the names of localities and begin discussions on how to ensure permanent representation for the Slovenians in the Landtag. However, representatives of only one of the 33 bilingual communities of Carinthia participated in the ceremonial events in Klagenfurt...