Status returned to 2,259 “erased” in Slovenia

The Slovenian government has returned citizenship status to 2,259 people, mainly Serbs, of a total 26,000 erased from the state electoral register in the 1990s. The Slovenian Interior Ministry stated that since July 6, 2,259 retroactive residency permits had been issued, according to the STA agency. Status returned to 2,259 “erased” in Slovenia In accordance with the decision of the Constitutional Court in Slovenia in 2003, the ministry has drafted a law removing all discrepancies and non-harmonized criteria for defining the legal concept of residency in Slovenia. The law will not only govern the issue of permanent residency permits, but also retroactive recognition of permanent residency from February 26, 1992 onwards. According to a statement from the Slovenian Interior Ministry, the government in Ljubljana decides on every case individually, adding that the law, like the permanent residency permits themselves, does not constitute a guarantee for gaining citizenship or the right to compensation. Slovenia adopted a secret act in 1992, which effectively stripped 26,000 non-Slovenians from the former Yugoslav republics of their citizenship, by erasing their names from the electoral register. Serbs, who made up the majority of this group of people stripped of their basic human and social rights, have all suffered for years at the hands of state institutions. Aleksandar Todorovic, president of the Civil Initiative for the Erased, was the first person to receive compensation of EUR 17,000 from the Slovenian state for the consequences stemming from the move.

Status returned to 2,259 “erased” in Slovenia

In accordance with the decision of the Constitutional Court in Slovenia in 2003, the ministry has drafted a law removing all discrepancies and non-harmonized criteria for defining the legal concept of residency in Slovenia.

The law will not only govern the issue of permanent residency permits, but also retroactive recognition of permanent residency from February 26, 1992 onwards.

According to a statement from the Slovenian Interior Ministry, the government in Ljubljana decides on every case individually, adding that the law, like the permanent residency permits themselves, does not constitute a guarantee for gaining citizenship or the right to compensation.

Slovenia adopted a secret act in 1992, which effectively stripped 26,000 non-Slovenians from the former Yugoslav republics of their citizenship, by erasing their names from the electoral register.

Serbs, who made up the majority of this group of people stripped of their basic human and social rights, have all suffered for years at the hands of state institutions.

Aleksandar Todorović, president of the Civil Initiative for the Erased, was the first person to receive compensation of EUR 17,000 from the Slovenian state for the consequences stemming from the move.