STA, February 28, 2018 –- Velenje Mayor Bojan Kontič has addressed a letter to Slovenian authorities alerting them to the problems stemming from a growing number of foreigners and calling for systemic nation-wide measures.
The share of foreigners with permanent or temporary residence in Slovenia has been growing rapidly, and local communities will no longer be able to deal with a number of new challenges resulting from this trend, Kontič stressed.
He thus urged a comprehensive approach underpinned by new legislation and systemic solutions at the national level, or else Slovenia will soon find itself in a difficult position resulting in a rather strained social, political and economic situation.
The mayor, a former MP of the Social Democrats (SD), addressed the letter to President Borut Pahor, the government and both chambers of parliament.
Listing some of the problems his municipality has been dealing with, Kontič mentioned the immigrants' inability to speak Slovenian.
Education at Velenje kindergartens and primary schools, which have seen a growing number of children mostly from Kosovo and Macedonia, is thus very difficult and sometimes practically impossible.
Apart from obstructing the education process, the language barrier also prevents teachers from helping these children integrate into society.
There are even more problems at the local community health centres, where not understanding a patient can have fatal consequences, noted Kontič, a member of the upper chamber of parliament.
He also pointed to the health centre's recent job add that listed Albanian as a desired language, which led to an outbreak of intolerance.
According to the mayor, many towns around the country are dealing with similar problems.
He believes that solving them cannot be left to finding "arbitrary solutions", or to the know-how, willingness and resourcefulness of individuals and individual organisations.
