STA, 13 May 2021 - A total of 57 persons of Slovenian descent have so far been repatriated from Venezuela. Many have already found jobs and settled down, the parliamentary Commission for Slovenians Abroad was told on Thursday.

The repatriation project was launched in 2019 and those who arrived in the first round have completed Slovenian language classes. Many have found jobs and their children are in school, said Dejan Valentinčič, state secretary at the Office for Slovenians Abroad.

This group is approaching the end of the 15-month period during which they receive special integration treatment. Within this period, they are required to gain either Slovenian citizenship or residency so that they can remain in the country.

According to Valentinčič, the key factor in successful integration is that they were scattered around the country, which made it easier for them to forge ties with the local community.

There are nine more persons in Venezuela who have official clearance to come to Slovenia but have not yet made the journey, either because they are sorting out personal matters or are not ready to make the move yet.

It remains unclear how many more ethnic Slovenians might wish to move to Slovenia. Valentinčič said they get sporadic inquiries. "There is interest in principle, it is not massive but it exists."

According to official data, there were a few hundred Slovenian citizens in Venezuela in 2019 and up to a thousand in total who are of Slovenian origin.

STA, 20 January 2020 - Twenty-one Slovenians who asked for repatriation from Venezuela have already arrived in Slovenia, State Secretary at the Government Office for Slovenians Abroad Olga Belec told the press in Ljubljana on Monday. Six repatriates arrived in December and fifteen in January.

 Of some 50 persons who asked for repatriation, 29 have been granted the status, while some of the applications are still being processed because the applicants had to supplement them. The office thus expects 15 more persons to move to their new homeland.

It was mostly young families that asked for repatriation, but the process remains open until the government decides otherwise, so new applications can still be submitted.

Repatriation procedures took rather long because safety was put first, Dejan Valentinčič, deputy head of the task force in charge of repatriation at the office, explained at today's press conference.

Two-thirds of the repatriates, who are dispersed around the country, live with their relatives, whereas the state has helped find the accommodation for the rest.

The repatriates have mostly settled in towns where they are expected to find a job easily. Some have already had their first job interviews, said Belec.

Many of the repatriates have completed higher education, and are also of very different ages, with the youngest being five years old.

Although many do not speak Slovenian, they have already started learning it, but they all mostly feel fine and are happy they can live in peace and freedom.

"We're happy that we're here and that we're safe," said Adreas Hočevar, who has moved here with his sister, wife and child.

While he has a hi-tech company in Venezuela, his sister would like to have a dance school here. "Dance is running through my veins," she said.

According to the office's estimates, there are up to 1,000 persons of Slovenian descent in Venezuela, but not all of them qualify for repatriation.

To qualify, the applicants have to meet several criteria, including proving their Slovenian origin, having no criminal record, and having "active ties with Slovenia, that is being active in Slovenian societies".

However, they do not have to speak Slovenian. Valentičič explained that language was one of the first features of national identity to disappear.

"You can be a good Slovenian without speaking the Slovenian language," he said, adding many preserve their identity with customs, such as baking the potica cake for holidays.

"For Slovenia, this was a pioneering project," Belec said about the Venezuela repatriation.

She noted this was the first time Slovenia had produced such an extensive repatriation action plan, which came with many challenges, from the very arrival of the repatriates to their accommodation and employment.

STA, 23 December 2019 - A severe crisis in Venezuela has prompted the government to engage in repatriating Slovenians who would wish to leave the Latin American country. This has proved a major effort as Slovenia did not have a working repatriation system for a large number of people, despite a law governing repatriation having been passed in 2006.

Slovenian Interior Ministry data shows there are 335 Slovenian citizens in Venezuela, whereas the total number of people of Slovenian descent is estimated at 1,000.

Slovenian citizenship is not a condition for repatriation, which entails a special status and rights for 15 months, but Slovenian origin is.

Based on the expressed willingness of Slovenians in Venezuela to return home, the government assessed only up to 70 persons would ask to be resettled in Slovenia.

Until mid-December, 17 repatriation applications were granted for 30 people, Dejan Valentinčič, deputy head of the task force in charge of repatriation at the Office for Slovenians Abroad, told the STA.

He said that another eight applications for 23 people, which had been initially incomplete, were still being processed.

Valentinčič also said that the first group was expected to arrive in Slovenia before Christmas holidays and the second one after the holidays.

"The pace of arrivals will depend on individuals, on their or their families' obligations in Venezuela," he explained.

The office is issuing repatriation decisions on the basis of a detailed action plan it had drafted and which the government adopted in mid-November.

The cost of repatriation until 2021 was estimated at 1.2 million euro, State Secretary Olga Belec from the office, explained when the action plan was endorsed.

She did not discuss where exactly the repatriated people would settle, this being a sensitive issue.

However, she highlighted areas with good employment prospects alongside areas where the repatriated persons have relatives.

For instance, a 16-member family would be accommodated with their relatives.

Belec said this "pioneer project" was "an extremely demanding and complex matter" and a result of collaboration of seven government offices.

Until now, Slovenia had very limited experience with repatriation - one family from Syria was repatriated in 2013 due to the civil war there.

As for integration into society, the persons from Venezuela will have a 15-month repatriation status.

During this time they will be entitled to free healthcare and to a work permit as well as favourable treatment compared to third-country job seekers.

They will also have the right to Slovenian language courses and to more favourable higher education enrolment conditions.

But if they get a job, their repatriation status ends before the expiration of the 15-month period.

However, those who do not find a job after the 15 months will have different status options at their disposal.

Slovenian citizens will enjoy all rights stemming from citizenship, those without Slovenian citizenship but of Slovenian descent will be able to obtain a formal status in line with the law on relations with Slovenians abroad.

The third group - those who are not even of Slovenian origin, for instance spouses - will be subject to the law on foreigners.

The repatriation process from Venezuela remains open-ended. To close it, the government would have to take a decision to that effect, explained Velentinčič.

The project united Slovenian politics in that politicians from left and right agreed the country should help those who would like to leave crisis-stricken Venezuela.

The first cases of Slovenian immigrants in Venezuela date back to the time between the two world wars, but a larger wave was recorded after WWII, in the period until the end of the 1960s.

Slovenian Foreign Ministry data shows that an estimated 550 to 800 Slovenians, mostly from the western region of Primorska, emigrated there in that period.

The reasons were economic and partly political, but there was also a desire for adventure and the existing ties to Slovenians already in Venezuela.

This Sunday, 1 December, starts the festive season with the 26^th edition of SILA’s annual bazaar, which brings international food, culture and charity together at a free to enter event in Ljubljana’s  Grand Hotel Union from 10:00 to 16:00. It’s a lot of fun, a great way to meet people from all over the world, and timed just right for lunch.

One of many innovations this year, at the biggest bazaar to date, is the Latin Corner. Things brings together five countries from Latin America to showcase the region’s gastronomy, crafts and culture.

We asked Miryam Yauli Palomino, one of the organisers, some questions, and she was kind enough to reply.

How was Latin Corner born?

The initiative to unite Latin American countries was brought up by the Brazilian Ambassador Renato Mosca, who participates in the other Latin American embassies located in Austria. The process was also helped along in the early stages by Colombia and Peru, the latter represented with the Honorary Consul from Peru, Peter Ilgo.

The Latino Corner is meant to demonstrate the brotherhood of Latin countries, as represented by their embassies, by Latin American members who are part of SILA, by residents of Latin American countries in Slovenia and by Latin American-led businesses that offer products or services typical of their countries.

What can visitors expect to find at Latin Corner?

We’ll have a wide variety of products and typical Latin American cuisine:

From Peru, and with regard to gastronomy, the main dish is "stuffed cause" with three types, tuna, chicken and egg, and for dessert we will offer "Peruvian pisco truffle" and as a digestive "te de Muña" typical Peruvian product. And at noon there will be a "Pisco sour" Cocktail Show.

For Peruvian products there will be wallets, purses, chests, scarves, glasses, notebooks with handmade fabrics among other things. In addition, we’ll also offer Peruvian quinoa and literature.

From Mexico there will be Mexican tacos, tortillas chips and Mexa beer. For the products there will be handmade accessories, Mayan embroidery, shawls, leather bags, purses, handmade wool rebozos made on a pedal loom, bracelets, necklaces, and that kind of thing.

Turning to Colombia the focus will be on coffee, with an interesting presentation, and also various coffee products on sale. While for Venezuela the story will be delicious bread, ham, cheese and three kinds of milk. From Brazil all I can say is that the details remain a secret, but you can expect some traditional dishes. You’ll have to come and find out what those are! Then with regard to the products on offer there will be pareos, typical Brazilian clothing and literature.

I should also remind people that the bazaar is not just about food and charity (this year with a focus on diabetes), as there’ll also be cultural performances. So on stage there’ll be an Argentine Tango called: "I abandoned it and did not know", a dance in homage to peace in Latin America, while there will also a music and dance performance from Brazil.

Latin Corner is part of SILA's annual charity bazaar, a highly recommended event that runs from 10:00 to 16:00 Sunday December 1, in the ballroom of the Grand Hotel Union (the entrance on Nazorjeva Ulica, next to the Atelje restaurant and Hood Burger).

STA, 14 November 2019 - The government adopted on Thursday an action plan that lays the groundwork for accepting persons of Slovenian descent who have asked for repatriation from Venezuela. A total of EUR 1.2 million has been set aside for a project that has been months in the making.

The Office for Slovenians Abroad has so far received 17 requests for a total of 53 individuals, while the money covers a maximum of 70 persons over the 15-month validity of the repatriation status, Olga Belec, state secretary at the Office for Slovenians Abroad, told the press about the "pioneering project".

Now that the action plan has been adopted, formal decisions will be issued immediately, but when exactly they start arriving also depends on individual arrangement of those who asked for repatriation.

The government has a list of 30 accommodation options around the country. One extended 16-member family has arranged accommodation with relatives, according to Belec.

To facilitate integration, the repatriated individuals will be accommodated in towns with good job prospects or places where their forebears come from. The majority of the expected arrivals are of working age and some have already been offered jobs.

Those who do not speak Slovenian will be immediately enrolled in Slovenian courses.

The repatriation status covers 15 months after arrival. After that, they will either be able to request permanent residence or citizenship; spouses who are not of Slovenian origin will be subject to the provisions of the aliens act.

The government decided in late August that it would help a number of Venezuelans of Slovenian origin settle in Slovenia under a law that permits repatriation from countries hit by a severe political or economic crisis.

Official data show 335 Slovenian citizens live in Venezuela, with another several hundred who are of Slovenian stock but do not have citizenship.

STA, 29 August 2019 - The government has decided to help 47 Venezuelans of Slovenian origin settle in Slovenia under a law that permits repatriation from countries hit by a severe political or economic crisis.

 Acting on requests it received in June, the government decided on Thursday to immediately launch repatriation procedures.

Seven ministries will be involved and the effort coordinated by an interdepartmental task force, said Minister for Slovenians Abroad Peter Jožef Česnik.

"There are 47 applicants in total ... These people have decided that the situation is unbearable," he said. Several Slovenian companies have expressed readiness to hire skilled individuals from the group.

According to the Office for Slovenians Abroad, Slovenia has limited experience with repatriation: the only repatriation carried out so far was for a family from Syria in 2013 due to the civil war there.

Under the law on Slovenians abroad, individuals of Slovenian descent are eligible for repatriation when their countries of residence are hit by a severe political or economic crisis.

Since the outbreak of political turmoil in Venezuela and the ensuing economic crisis, the government has received multiple requests for aid.

A key condition to launch repatriation proceedings is Slovenia designating the situation a grave economic and political crisis. This has already been done several times before by the Foreign Ministry.

Slovenian Interior Ministry data puts the number of Slovenian citizens living in Venezuela at 335, while the total number of people of Slovenian descent is estimated at 1,000.

Repatriation status can be used by individuals for a maximum of 15 months. In this period they have the right to free healthcare, Slovenian language lessons, a work licence, enrolment in higher education institutions under favourable conditions, as well as to favourable treatment when applying for a job compared to third-country citizens.

To accommodate repatriated individuals, the government can set up an immigration home where basic provisions are secured, including financial aid for those below the minimum income threshold.

The 15-month status cannot be extended, meaning the repatriated individual needs to secure a different status as the basis for continued residence in Slovenia, for instance Slovenian citizenship, the status of a Slovenian without Slovenian citizenship, or an appropriate status of a foreign citizens with a residence permit.

STA, 11 August 2019 - The Government Office for Slovenians Abroad (Urad Vlade Republike Slovenije za Slovence v zamejstvu in po svetu) has drawn up a proposal to repatriate persons of Slovenian descent from Venezuela, following calls, including in parliament, for a government decree to this effect. The government is expected to discuss it soon after the summer recess.

A key condition for the start of repatriation proceedings is Slovenia designating the situation a grave economic and political crisis. This has already been done several times before by the Foreign Ministry, and calls have been mounting in Slovenia to help Slovenians living there.

Interior Ministry data puts the number of Slovenian citizens living in Venezuela at 335, while the total number of people of Slovenian descent there is estimated at 1,000.

Slovenian authorities have received 47 requests for repatriation after the start of the last crisis in the country.

The Office for Slovenians Abroad has told the STA that repatriation was a complex procedure and that Slovenia had very limited experience in the field. The only repatriation executed so far was for a family from Syria in 2013 due to the civil war there.

Under the law, individuals of Slovenian descent are eligible for repatriation, but in the case of the repatriation from Syria entry was also granted to the non-Slovenian family members on the basis of asylum rules on family reunification.

"Such a solution also seems to make the most sense when it comes to repatriation from Venezuela," representatives of the Office for Slovenians Abroad said.

Repatriation status can be used by individuals for a maximum of 15 months. In this period they have the right to free healthcare, Slovenian language lessons for family members, a work licence, enrolment in higher education institutions under favourable conditions, as well as to favourable treatment when applying for a job compared to third-country citizens.

To accommodate repatriated individuals, the government can set up an immigration home where basic provisions are secured, including financial aid for those below the minimum income threshold.

The 15-month status cannot be extended, meaning the repatriated individual needs to secure a different status as the basis for continued residence in Slovenia, for instance Slovenian citizenship, the status of a Slovenian without Slovenian citizenship, or an appropriate status of a foreign citizens with a residence permit.

Repatriated individuals can also return to Venezuela, this, however, needs to be organised by them independently and at their own cost.

There have also been warnings about the repatriation approach, with the head of the Foreign Ministry's consular service, Andrej Šter, recently noting in a interview that countries which have larger numbers of their citizens in Venezuela have been approaching the situation differently.

"The joint foreign service of the EU and some other countries told us that it is not advisable to start with repatriation and that it makes more sense to opt for evacuation from difficult circumstances.

"This means helping people to live with fewer problems while not luring them into selling everything and leaving without a chance of return," Šter told Dnevnik's Saturday supplement Objektiv.

He added that these people were mostly part of the middle and upper-middle class in Venezuela and would not be happy hearing upon arriving in Slovenia that they would be accommodated by the state in a dilapidated army apartment or barracks.

The Office for Slovenians Abroad commented on this by saying that efforts were also under way to help such people directly where they lived - humanitarian aid has for instance been secured for them several times through two Slovenian associations active in Venezuela.

It moreover warned that "it is of course not be expected" that all persons of Slovenian descent living in Venezuela would want to be repatriated.

The first cases of Slovenian immigrants in Venezuela date back to the period between the two world wars, but a bigger wave was recorded after WWII. A number of Slovenians, mostly from the western region of Primorska, made their way to Venezuela until the end of the 1950s. An estimated 550 to 800 Slovenians emigrated to Venezuela by 1960, the Foreign Ministry data shows.

According to the ministry, the emigration was triggered by the economic and partly political situation in the homeland at the time, as well by the desire for adventure and by existing ties to Slovenians already in Venezuela. The situation is reversed today.

STA, 16 May 2019 - Members of parliament have urged the government to help Venezuelans of Slovenian origin leave the country by immediately starting repatriation procedures as permitted by law.

The appeal came at a session of the parliamentary Commission for Slovenians Abroad in the midst of mounting media reports that many of the several hundred Venezuelans of Slovenian origin would like help from Slovenia to escape the hardship.

Minister for Slovenians Abroad Peter Jožef Česnik said he had already received several requests from people in Venezuela and urged immediate action to help them.

Since repatriation is a complex procedure, he said an interdepartmental task force should be formed to facilitate the procedure, while the government should provide immediate assistance in cash and medicines.

Interior Ministry data suggest 323 Slovenian citizens live in Venezuela, but the Office for Slovenians Abroad estimates there could be as many as 1,000 together with their families.

Dejan Valentinčič, an official at the Office for Slovenians Abroad, said the authorities needed to be flexible, as some documents, for example police clearance certificates, were very difficult to obtain.

Repatriation requires a government decree under article 72 of the act on relations with Slovenians abroad.

Slovenia plans to hold consular days in Caracas this month to provide advice to those who want to leave Venezuela.

Ambassador to Brazil Alain Brian Bergant will try to help them get the necessary documents if they want to leave the country, and collect information which will assist the government, the Foreign Policy Committee was told yesterday.

Delo reported today (May 16) that at least 17 people have already formally requested repatriation.

The plight of ethnic Slovenians in Venezuela has received significant media coverage in recent days and revived memories of the early 2000s, when many ethnic Slovenians returned from Argentina at the peak of a severe economic crisis there.

Related: How “Brazilian Fever” Led Many Slovenes to South America

STA, 20 February 2019 - President Borut Pahor said the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and him agreed that addressing the Kosovo situation should also allow for "out of the box" solutions, albeit not based on the ethnic principle. The pair also discussed Venezuela, with Pahor stressing that threats with military force to secure change were unacceptable.

Pahor, who co-chairs the Brdo-Brijuni regional cooperation initiative, handed to Mogherini on Wednesday an invitation to the 8 and 9 May summit in Tirana, Albania.

He stressed that her in-depth analysis, coming after five years as foreign policy chief, would be extremely valuable in the search for solutions concerning the European future of the Western Balkans.

Pahor said Mogherini agreed that original solutions should also be sought to bilateral and multilateral issues in the region. These solutions must not be based on the ethnic principle, he added.

Pahor is happy that Mogherini shares this view, which he described as very daring but still prudent, since some "out of the box" thinking was needed after years of deadlock.

When the initiative first surfaced for a compromise solution that would also involve border changes, this was raising eyebrows in the West, said Pahor, who agreed that bad past experience indeed called for caution.

He is however open to original solutions, provided the process, start to end, is conducted in a wise political fashion, with mutual respect and very disciplined oversight by the international community to prevent collateral damage in the neighbourhood.

Pahor, who said this would be part of the Belgrade-Prishtina dialogue, added "the friends of a peaceful solution to the dispute" just need to decide whether they are ready to think "out of the box".

Pahor would oppose a solution that would be based solely on the ethnic principle, while he repeated that an agreement that would not cause collateral damage should not be excluded in advance.

Pahor later also discussed Kosovo with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who stressed NATO supported the Belgrade-Prishtina dialogue while it would not go into the specific elements of the dialogue.

He said NATO supported the idea about Prishtina and Belgrade being capable of solving open issues. NATO believes in a political solution and calls on both sides to refrain from actions and rhetoric that would increase tensions, said.

Meanwhile, Mogherini's spokesperson Maja Kocijančič tweeted that the discussion with Pahor had been "excellent", and that it focused on the Western Balkans while also going beyond this topic.

Venezuela also discussed

Pahor said Venezuela had also been discussed, with the pair agreeing that the recognition of Juan Guaido as interim president until an early election was one of the solutions allowing a peaceful path to a president that would represent the country and lead it democratically.

The president said this was the "better among bad possibilities". "We're not in a position where we would have a good vs bad solution regarding Venezuela. We have several bad ones and we both see the recognition of an interim president as a better among bad options," he said.

Pahor stressed it was very important that the enforcement of these changes is not accompanied by military force or even threats of it. Such threats are unacceptable and cannot bode well for a peaceful transition in the country, he said.

STA, 16 February 2019 - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec has criticised the conduct of senior Italian politicians in the aftermath of controversial statements made by European Parliament President Antonio Tajani and Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini last week, saying that historical revisionism was "completely misguided".

"This is reminiscent of Marshal [Pietro] Badoglio, who took over the government after Mussolini and succeeded in Italy hardly being recognised as a country in which Fascism was in power. Germany has gone through profound denazification, Italy has not had such a process," Šarec told Večer in an interview published on Saturday.

"As a Slovenian, I'm sensitive to falsification of history and in such cases things have to be said clearly. The Slovenian nation has never attacked anybody, it never had territorial designs, on the contrary, we lost a lot, which is why depictions of Slovenians as occupying forces need to be forcefully resisted," he said.

Šarec was among the first Slovenian officials to respond after Tajani and Salvini addressed a ceremony in Basovizza, Italy on Sunday marking the day of remembrance for Italian victims of post WWII-executions. He called the statements "unparalleled revisionism" and said Fascism's goal had been to destroy the Slovenian nation.

While Salvini has expressed surprise at Šarec's comments and reactions in Slovenia overall, Tajani issued several apologies, after his first comments were interpreted as a textbook example of a non-apology.

Šarec told the newspaper what Tajani had initially said was "not an apology. It sounded as if you called someone a complete idiot, they demand an apology, and you say: 'Sorry, you really aren't a complete idiot.' This is just saying the same thing differently."

In Slovenia disputes over postwar history are not rare and Šarec has faced his share of criticism for several speeches he has delivered at ceremonies commemorating the victims of WWII, but he says that he is "not the one bringing up history".

"I don't raise such issues, nor does the Marjan Šarec List, other politicians do it. But I will never not react to statements that do not belong in the 21st century. Polarisation is not good, we should learn from history by acknowledging what was wrong and celebrating what was good."

Slovenia not turning foreign policy towards the US

Asked whether Slovenia's support for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido "is a turn of Slovenian foreign policy towards the US", Šarec said it was not.

"It's not a turn in foreign policy. We always try to have good relations with all. We also don't have very close relations or too many visits with Russia."

He added he did not consider the support for Guaido as turning in the US direction "because we are Europeans".

"The whole EU has problems with the US policy of President Donald Trump," Šarec said, noting "twitter diplomacy does not suit us". As a small country, Slovenia must also pay attention to its own interests, he told the Maribor-based newspaper.