The draft amendments were met with criticism, however, this prompted the minister to tell the Dnevnik newspaper on Friday that "the purpose of the amended legislation is to safeguard the Slovenian language, as the situation is alarming."
Under the existing law, 20% of music aired by a radio station per 24 hours must be Slovenian. However, some stations usually broadcast that type of music only by night. This triggered the sponsor of the amendments to propose a minimum quota of 20% from 6 am to 10 pm.
Bizjak Mlakar notes that Slovenian is the only official language in Slovenia, except in a few communities where ethnic minorities -- Italians and Hungarians -- are entitled to use their mother tongue.
However, the minister said that some university students deliver their papers and reports in English, with the explanation that it is easer for them to express their feelings, moods and positions in English rather than in Slovenian.
"Can you imagine what would happen if a British radio or TV station broadcast only German or Italian music all the time?" the minister said, explaining that other European nations protect their native languages against the influence of other languages.