Former SFRY property in Rome allocated to Slovenia as part of the succession process

15. 9. 2021

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Government of the Republic of Slovenia

Accompanied by a delegation, Ambassador Jožef Drofenik, Secretary General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the authorised representative of the Republic of Slovenia for succession issues, attended the 20th meeting of the Joint Committee for the Distribution of Diplomatic and Consular Properties of the Former SFRY, in compliance with Annex B to the Agreement on Succession Issues, convened in Sarajevo on 13 and 14 September. At the meeting, the immovable property of the former SFRY in Rome was allocated to Slovenia.

group photo of participants in front of flags — Participants of the 20th session of the Joint Committee for the Division of Diplomatic and Consular Missions of the Former SFRY | Author Ministrstvo za zunanje zadeve

The property in Rome is in use as the diplomatic residence of the Slovenian Ambassador to the Holy See. The Joint Committee agreed that the Republic of Serbia would hand over the documentation pertaining to the residence by the end of this year so that procedures for the transfer of ownership to Slovenia could be initiated.

The authorised representatives on the Joint Committee reached a tentative decision that the large diplomatic complex of the former SFRY in New Delhi should be physically divided among four succession states, but some additional coordination is needed before a final decision can be reached. Should such an agreement be reached, Slovenia – which is not included in the division of the property in New Delhi – could be allocated the plot in Beirut belonging to the former SFRY.

To date, 12 diplomatic properties of the former SFRY have been handed over to Slovenia as part of the succession process (in Washington, Milan, Celovec/Klagenfurt, Sao Paulo, Brasilia, Bamako, Rabat, Georgetown, Dar es Salaam and Rome). In addition, Slovenia has received 14 percent of the proceeds of the joint sales of the immovable properties of the former SFRY in Tokyo, Bonn and New York. Slovenia has thus reached over 80 percent of the quota allocated to it as part of the succession to diplomatic properties.

It is expected that the sale of Slovenia’s 14% ownership share of the former SFRY property in Bern will be closed soon, with Slovenia receiving CHF 1,089,200.

During the final phase of the division of diplomatic properties, the succession states will have to agree on the succession to the large diplomatic complex of the former SFRY in Moscow and close the joint sale of the former SFRY mission in New York.