Austrian Littoral

Koper – Italian senators Debora Serracchiani and Tatjana Rojc, both members of the Democratic Party (PD), met representatives of the Italian community in Slovenia on Monday. The minority’s representatives said they would like Italy to support their efforts for their constitutional rights. The officials agreed minorities should have MP seats guaranteed.

Idrija – The main ceremony remembering the return of the western Primorska region to the homeland will be held in the town of Idrija, west of Ljubljana, on Saturday. The event will also mark 74 years since the implementation of the Paris Peace Treaty under which Primorska was reunited with Slovenia after being under Italian rule since the end of WWI.

President Zoran Milanovic joined local officials in the town of Labin in Croatia's northern Istria region on Tuesday evening to mark the centenary of the miners' rebellion against the Italian fascist authorities.

Ljubljana – The Slovenian Agriculture Ministry has temporarily protected Istrian honey under the Slovenian-Croatian brand Istrski med/Istarski med at the national level using a protected designation of origin, as Slovenia and Croatia have decided to submit a joint application to the European Commission to register the honey.

What happened there - not just at the end of World War II, but before the war - is far from a clear-cut story.

Tajani was speaking at a ceremony held to honour the victims of the Yugoslav Partisans' 40-day rule over the city of Trieste.

A blog dubbed Republika Istra (Republic of Istria) was launched a week ago, while an eponymous Facebook page already exists, Index is reporting.

According to the Croatian website, the blog states that residents of Istria - a peninsula in western Croatia - are "neither Italians, Slovenes, nor Croatians" but are instead "Istrians who have the elements of many peoples."

A blog dubbed Republika Istra (Republic of Istria) was launched a week ago, while an eponymous Facebook page already exists, Index is reporting.

According to the Croatian website, the blog states that residents of Istria - a peninsula in western Croatia - are "neither Italians, Slovenes, nor Croatians" but are instead "Istrians who have the elements of many peoples."

"Croatia wants to be a country where everyone has the opportunity to affirm their culture and tradition," Croatian President Ivo Josipovic said at Thursday's opening of the Serbian Cultural Centre in the town of Pula, on the tip of the Istrian peninsula.

"Croatia is ready to lend a hand to all people of goodwill, including friends from the Republic of Serbia," Josipovic said.