Croatian minority in the Republic of Slovenia

For centuries Croats have been living in the region of Bela krajina, Slovenian part of Istria , Pomurje region and around the river Sutla. Today a significant number of Croats live in bigger towns such as Ljubljana, Maribor, Velenje, Novo Mesto, Kopar, Celje and others.

It is estimated that there are around 55.000 Croats living in Slovenia. Based on the 2002 census, 35.642 inhabitants of the Republic of Slovenia declared themselves as Croats, and 54.079 inhabitants considered the Croatian language as their mother tongue. Compared to the 1991 census (the number of Croats was 54.212) it is obvious that the number of Croats in Slovenia is decreasing, which is due to the process of integration and assimilation into the Slovenian society. Population register of the Republic of Slovenia of 2011 did not contain the information on nationality or the mother tongue of the citizens.

The  issue of granting Croats in Slovenia a national minority status  was addressed  as early as 1991, i.e. since the establishment of the independent Republic of Slovenia. Croats in Slovenia have no legal rights relating to their nationality, although they have requested to be recognized as a national minority for a long time.  The status of national minority has been granted to Italians and Hungarians and they are defined as “autochtonous national communities” and guaranteed representation in parliament, whereas   the Roma are defined as a “special” ethnic community. Many efforts have been made and the initiatives taken by the Croatian community addressed to high officials of the Republic of Slovenia with the aim to incorporate Croatian communities as national minorities into the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia.

Based on the Law on Relationships between the Republic of Croatia and Croats Abroad the Government of the Republic of Croatia adopted the Decision on Establishing and Appointing the Members of the Council of the Government of Croatia for Croats Abroad, which held its constituting session in July, 2022, where the representative of the Croatian minority in the Republic of Slovenia at the third Council convocation are Đanino Kutnjak and Filip Božić.


Under their  umbrella Union of Croatian societies in Slovenia, presided by Đanino Kutnjak, a dozen of Croatian associations have been active: Croatian cultural society ( hereinafter HKD) Pomurje Lendava, HKD Međimurje Velenje, HKD Maribor, Croatian cultural‑artistic, educational and sports association Istra Piran, the Croatian Cultural Union in Novo mesto, the Croatian club Komušina in Škofja Loka, HKD in Maribor and the Croatian cultural house in Ljubljana. Association of Croatian students in Slovenia , Croatian association Ljubljana, the Ivan Car Međimurje Culture & Arts Society of Ljubljana,  HKD Velenje and HKD of Croatian Heritage Foundation (Matica hrvatska) in Maribor. Also, the Society of Žumberak Natives and Friends of Žumberak, Novo Mesto and Cultural and artistic association Žumberak from Metlika have a very active role.

 The Union of Croatian societies in Slovenia and the associations which belong to the Union contribute to preservation of national and cultural identity of Croats in Slovenia and their ties with the domicile nation by organizing cultural and sports events, lectures, courses and workshops and publishing the magazines.

Since 2010 the Ministry of Science and  Education of the Republic of Croatia has organized classes in Croatian in Ljubljana, Lendava, Maribor, Ljutomer, Radomlje and Grosuplje. The exchange course of the Croatian language and literature within the competence of the Ministry of Science and Education is organized at the Faculty of Arts  in Ljubljana.

Almost all Croatian association have their website. Some of them publish their magazines: The Union of Croatian societies in Slovenia – “Korijeni“; HKD (Croatian cultural society) Maribor –“Croata“; HKD Međimurje, Ljubljana – “Pušlek“; HKD Međimurje, Velenje – “Štrekar“; “KD Pomurje, Lendava – “Glas“. Croatian Catholic mission in Ljubljana publishes the magazine “Izlazak”. Croats in Slovenia do not have their TV programme, and occasionally they broadcast their programme on Radio Študent.

There are Croatian Catholic missions in Ljubljana, Maribor, Novo Mesto and Portorož.