[nettime-see] Undo Delete in Slovenia

[Zeljko Blace <zblace@alu.hr>]

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Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 13:18:20 -0500
From: Ivo Skoric <ivo@reporters.net>

RFE/RL Balkan Report
Vol. 7, No. 36, 31 October 2003

RESTORING 'THE ERASED' IN SLOVENIA. Slovenian political
vocabulary is full of peculiar expressions that in their simplicity
belie the historical import packed into them. For example, the
"pregnanci" (expellees) are the 63,000 Slovenes forcibly deported by
the Axis powers during World War II (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 13
June 2003), and the "optanti" (choosers) are the 130,000 ethnic
Italians who fled to Italy when Zone B of the Free Territory of
Trieste was incorporated into Yugoslavia in 1954 (see "RFE/RL Balkan
Report," 31 May 2002).
 A new term was added to this lexicon in 1992: the "izbrisani"
(erased ones). On 26 February of that year, the Slovenian authorities
deleted from the official records all non-Slovenian residents who had
not applied for citizenship in the new state. Nearly 30,000 people
were affected by the decision.
 The reasons for not applying for citizenship were various.
Many of those who failed to do so belonged to the social underclass
and were ignorant of the requirement. Some had criminal records and
were reluctant to make contact with the authorities. Still others
opposed Slovenian independence from Yugoslavia on principle, and made
a political decision not to comply. Altogether, over one-third of the
"erased" left Slovenia permanently and renounced their residency, but
18,000 remained without official status.
 Under pressure from the EU, in 1999 Slovenia adopted the Act
on Regularizing the Status of Citizens of Other State Successors of
the Former SFRY in the Republic of Slovenia, giving the "erased" a
second chance to regulate their status. The law required that
applicants prove permanent residency in Slovenia prior to
independence as well as current residency in Slovenia.
 Some 12,000 people took advantage of the new law -- 7,000
received citizenship, and 4,800 obtained permanent or temporary
residency. However, critics faulted the three-month deadline, arguing
that it was often insufficient to allow time to gather the necessary
paperwork from Slovenia's cumbersome public administration system.
 An 18 April "Delo" interview with the president of the
Society of Erased Residents of Slovenia, Aleksandar Todorovic,
revealed the mixed feelings of some erased persons toward their host
country. "I didn't apply for citizenship because that would be
agreeing to discrimination against myself," he declared. "I'm a
foreigner with permanent residency, and that's what I wish to
remain."
 A new law being debated in the National Assembly this week
will grant permanent residency status to nearly all the remaining
4,200 unregulated cases from the 1992 erasure, excepting those
convicted of crimes against the state or against humanity. Most
significantly, this "third chance" will be a blanket decision instead
of applying on a case-by-case basis, and will take effect
retroactively.
 The erasures have been an embarrassment to Slovenia's
otherwise fairly good record on human rights, with unpleasant social
consequences for those who refused to comply. Driver's licenses
and identity cards were confiscated when presented for renewal, state
health insurance was cancelled and free health care denied, and
pensions were lost. While this fell far short of the atrocities
committed elsewhere in Yugoslavia, critics of Slovenia have used
hyperbole to characterize the erasures as "civic death,"
"administrative genocide," or "soft genocide."
 Jasminka Dedic, a researcher at Ljubljana's Peace
Institute, recently noted that because the erasures affected almost
exclusively non-Slovenes, and particularly nonindigenous Roma and
former Yugoslav Army (JNA) officers, the action was ethnically and
socially discriminatory. Dedic also observes that Slovenia differs
from other postcommunist successor states, where non-naturalized
long-term residents (e.g., Russians in Estonia or "Slovak Roma" in
the Czech Republic) have not been stripped of their previous status,
even if citizenship is difficult to attain (paper available at:
www.mirovni-institut.si/eng_html/ publications/Erasure.doc).
 On the other hand, many Slovenes are incensed by the
concessions being made. The non-parliamentary Party of the Slovenian
Nation (SSN) has characterized the erased as traitors who left
Slovenia in 1991 in the hope that it would be reconquered by the JNA,
only to return later to take advantage of its relative prosperity.
Repeated attempts to launch a popular referendum on the issue have
also been struck down.
 Opposition parties warn that the erased could take advantage
of the new law to demand up to 600 billion tolars ($3 billion) in
damages, "Delo" reported on 29 October. Majda Zupan of the New
Slovenia party (NSi) warned that such a claim would amount to 300,000
tolars ($1,500) per Slovenian citizen -- well over the average
monthly wage, the news site 24ur.com reported on 28 October. The
right-wing Slovenian National Party (SNS) has condemned the proposed
law, saying that it rewards those who gambled against Slovenia's
future.
 The United List of Social Democrats (ZLSD), along with the
other coalition parties, favors resolving the issue once and for all
for the sake of "human rights and a state based on the rule of law,"
according to a 10 October statement from Milan Potrc, the head of the
ZLSD parliament group.
 Notwithstanding the opposition, the law is expected to pass,
finally turning the question of the "izbrisani" from an ongoing civic
debate into another footnote in Slovenian history. (Donald F. Reindl,
dreindl@indiana.edu)

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