Message by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia on the Day of Return of Primorska to the Motherland
Throughout a long and often difficult history, Slovenians in the Primorska region, namely in Goriška, the Karst and Slovenian Istria with its hinterland, have always known where they belong. Borders and authorities changed, and with them came periods of deliberate suppression of the Slovenian language, culture and national identity. But what was deeply rooted in people could not be extinguished. The Slovenian word endured in homes and churches, while resistance to forced assimilation and fascism took many forms, ranging from TIGR to mass resistance against the occupying forces. Time and again, Slovenians in this part of our homeland were prepared to defend what was theirs, although many paid the ultimate price. Not out of hatred for others, but out of love for what was theirs.
After decades of perseverance, resistance and sacrifice, the Paris Peace Treaty entered into force on 15 September 1947, and a large part of our nation's territory was returned to the motherland. At the same time, the new border, sadly, left many of our compatriots on the other side of it. However, the border could determine only which state they would live in, not which nation they belonged to.
It took almost six decades before, in 2006, we as a state also honoured the return of Primorska to the motherland with a national holiday. For the preceding 60 years, no left-wing government had thought to commemorate it, and even today they cannot seem to leave the name of the holiday alone. Thus, under the government of Robert Golob, the law was amended to change the name of the holiday. But they will never be able to change the truth. Because Primorska HAS ALWAYS BEEN AND WILL ALWAYS BE Slovenian, this is about its return to the motherland, not its annexation. This was, after all, beautifully expressed by the great Slovenian from Trieste, Boris Pahor.
In 1925, Srečko Kosovel wrote: "My life is mine, Slovenian, contemporary, European and eternal." There was something prophetic in the words of this young man from the Karst. Belonging to one's nation does not mean closing oneself off from the world but embracing the world with confidence. Throughout its history, Primorska has demonstrated precisely this – that it knows how to turn limitations into opportunities, barren soil into fertility, its position by the sea into a gateway to the world and life along a border into a place of encounter. Today, it must also allow itself to succeed.
Perhaps the simplest truth is contained in Kosovel's final word: eternal. The eternal is not that which never changes. The eternal is that which people carry within themselves. Among Slovenians in Primorska, the eternal has a face of its own. It lives in the people and in the places. In the villages beneath Mount Snežnik, on the stony Karst, in the bora wind, in the emerald-green Soča, in the reflections of the salt pans and in the scent of the sea.
What generations before us carried within themselves, we carry today. Proud of what we have received and confident in what we will leave behind.
Slovenian. Contemporary. European. Eternal.
God bless Primorska. God bless Slovenia.
Notes
Throughout a long and often difficult history, Slovenians in the Primorska region, namely in Goriška, the Karst and Slovenian Istria with its hinterland, have always known where they belong. Borders and authorities changed, and with them came periods of deliberate suppression of the Slovenian language, culture and national identity. But what was deeply rooted in people could not be extinguished. The Slovenian word endured in homes and churches, while resistance to forced assimilation and fascism took many forms, ranging from TIGR to mass resistance against the occupying forces. Time and again, Slovenians in this part of our homeland were prepared to defend what was theirs, although many paid the ultimate price. Not out of hatred for others, but out of love for what was theirs. After decades of perseverance, resistance and sacrifice, the Paris Peace Treaty entered into force on 15 September 1947, and a large part of our nation's territory was returned to the motherland. At the same time, the new border, sadly, left many of our compatriots on the other side of it. However, the border could determine only which state they would live in, not which nation they belonged to. It took almost six decades before, in 2006, we as a state also honoured the return of Primorska to the motherland with a national holiday. For the preceding 60 years, no left-wing government had thought to commemorate it, and even today they cannot seem to leave the name of the holiday alone. Thus, under the government of Robert Golob, the law was amended to change the name of the holiday. But they will never be able to change the truth. Because Primorska HAS ALWAYS BEEN AND WILL ALWAYS BE Slovenian, this is about its return to the motherland, not its annexation. This was, after all, beautifully expressed by the great Slovenian from Trieste, Boris Pahor. In 1925, Srečko Kosovel wrote: "My life is mine, Slovenian, contemporary, European and eternal." There was something prophetic in the words of this young man from the Karst. Belonging to one's nation does not mean closing oneself off from the world but embracing the world with confidence. Throughout its history, Primorska has demonstrated precisely this – that it knows how to turn limitations into opportunities, barren soil into fertility, its position by the sea into a gateway to the world and life along a border into a place of encounter. Today, it must also allow itself to succeed. Perhaps the simplest truth is contained in Kosovel's final word: eternal. The eternal is not that which never changes. The eternal is that which people carry within themselves. Among Slovenians in Primorska, the eternal has a face of its own. It lives in the people and in the places. In the villages beneath Mount Snežnik, on the stony Karst, in the bora wind, in the emerald-green Soča, in the reflections of the salt pans and in the scent of the sea. What generations before us carried within themselves, we carry today. Proud of what we have received and confident in what we will leave behind. Slovenian. Contemporary. European. Eternal. God bless Primorska. God bless Slovenia.