After the delivery of the initiative launched by 11 associations and societies, the federation leader, Petar Antunovic, said that the regulation of its status would help the Croat community to be awarded with material and other prerequisites for preserving its identity.
According to him, after Slovenia and Croatia gained independence from the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), there were some 50,000 Croats in Slovenia.
Antunovic said the time was ripe for recognising Croats as an ethnic minority in that country.
Gantar said that the Slovenian parliament had already adopted a declaration on the status of members of peoples from the former SFRY in Slovenia, which provides for their rights.
The parliament speaker said that it was not realistic now to expect amendments to the Constitution which would enable the Croat or other communities to be awarded with the status of a recognised ethnic minority, which ethnic Hungarians and Italians enjoy.
Slovenian Croat representatives are going to notify Prime Minister Borut Pahor of this initiative.