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SLOVENE-ITALIAN RELATIONS 1880-1956

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His Excellency
Minister of Foreign Affairs
of the Republic of Slovenia

His Excellency
Minister of Foreign Affairs
of the Italian Republic


Mr Minister,
By the exchange of notes in October 1993 the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia and Italy agreed upon the establishment of the mixed Slovene-Italian Historical and Cultural Commission with the task of conducting a comprehensive in-depth study of all the relevant aspects of the history of political and cultural relations between the two nations.

It was foreseen that each side would appoint one co-chairman and six members to the Commission. The Commission was to draw up a final report as a confidential document and submit it to both Governments.

The Slovene side appointed the following experts to the Commission: Dr Milica Kacin Wohinz (Co-chairperson), Dr France Dolinar, Dr Boris Gombač, Dr Branko Marušič, Dr Boris Mlakar, Dr Nevenka Troha and Dr Andrej Vovko.

After Dr Boris Mlakar resigned from the Commission, he was replaced by the writer Mr Aleksander Vuga; then, in March 1996, Dr Boris Gombač resigned, and Dr Boris Mlakar was again included in the Commission.

On the Italian side, at the beginning, the composition of the Commission was as follows: Prof. Sergio Bartole (Co-chairman), Prof. Fulvio Tomizza, Senator Lucio Toth, Prof. Fulvio Salimbeni, Prof. Elio Apih, Prof. Paola Pagnini and Prof. Angelo Ara.

Owing to various reasons the Co-chairman resigned and was replaced by Prof. Giorgio Conetti by the Minister's letter of 10 March 1999, and members of the Commission Fulvio Tomizza and Elio Apih were replaced by Prof. Raoul Pupo and Prof. Marina Cataruzza.

The Commission met in plenary session in Venice on 19 November 1993. Following that: at Otočec on 4-5 February 1994; in Passariano (Udine) on 12-13 April 1994; at Bled on 17-18 March 1995; in Oglej/Aquileia on 3 June 1995; in Portorož/Portorose on 12-13 April 1996; in Gorizia/ Gorica on 5 October 1999, in Koper/Capodistria on 20 November 1999, and in Udine on 27 June 2000.

The Commission established at its first session that the historical period from 1880 to 1956 was relevant for its work, i.e. from the beginning of the national and political differentiation of the border area to the immediate consequences of delimitation according to the London Memorandum. For the purpose of better transparency of the Report the topics are divided, following the established historical time-divisions to four periods: 1880-1918, 1918-1941, 1941-1945, 1945-1956.

The Commission adopted the final report unanimously at its session in Udine on 27 June 2000.

The Co-chairpersons of the Commission and their assistants Dr Nevenka Troha, Dr France Dolinar, Prof. Marina Cataruzza met in Koper/Capodistria on 25 June 2000 to review the final versions of the Slovene and Italian texts. It is the honour of the Co-chairpersons to submit the Report to their Excellencies, whereby their mission has been concluded.



Dear Mr Minister,
On the occasion of submitting the final Report on the relations between the two nations in the period from 1880 to 1956, Prof. Giorgio Conetti and Dr Milica Kacin Wohinz, as Co-chairpersons of the Italian-Slovene Historical and Cultural Commission, wish to propose a few possibilities for the use of this document in practice:

• official public presentation of the document in the capital cities of both countries, if possible at the university, as a sign of firm reconciliation between the two nations;
• publication of the text in the Italian and Slovene languages;
• publication of basic studies, and
• inclusion of the Report in the curricula of secondary schools.

Yours sincerely,







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