Daily newspaper of the Slovenian minority in Italy under pressure

The editorial team of the Slovenian daily Primorski Dnevnik, published in Trst/Trieste, is deeply concerned about plans to cut the newspaper's funding under the Law for the Protection of the Slovene Linguistic Minority of the Region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

This would be the second time in a row, the journalists write in a press release. 'Our newspaper is the only one among the so-called leading organisations of the Slovene minority whose share has been cut instead of increased,' the release says. A committee of the Regional Council is responsible for allocating the funds.

The cut in 2023 left a hole of 80,000 euros in the publishing house's budget, write the journalists of Primorski Dnevnik; this year it could be even bigger. 'We also run the risk of losing the young employees who are currently on fixed-term contracts but represent the future of the newspaper and its development,' they write. The journalists are demanding the full payment of the funds 'so that the conditions for the work and development of our newspaper are fully guaranteed, so that it can continue to adequately cover the events of the Slovene minority in Italy and local society'.

In a statement, Pierpaolo Roberti, the politician responsible for the area in the regional government, described the journalists' demands as 'a personal ideological fight against the region'. The politician, who grew up in the Lega party, said that 'the information of the Slovene community is not a monopoly of Primorski'. Roberti also pointed out that Primorski Dnevnik, as a minority daily, receives additional funding directly from the state.

Primorski Dnevnik (which translates as 'Daily Newspaper of the Coastal Region') is the only daily newspaper of the Slovene minority. It has been published under this name since 13 May 1945. Its predecessor, Partizanski Dnevnik ('Partisan Daily'), had been the only printed newspaper of a resistance movement in Europe since 17 September 1944, spreading independent news in the Adriatic coastal region under the most adverse conditions and under constant threat from the henchmen of the Fascist and Nazi regimes.

Note: This article gives the views of the author and does not represent the position of the European Association of Daily Newspapers in Minority and Regional Languages (MIDAS) or Eurac Research.