Statement by the FUEN Working Group of Slavic Minorities (AGSM) on the attacks on bilingual place-name signs in Burgenland

12.03.2026

Statement by the Working Group of Slavic Minorities (AGSM) of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN)

Flensburg/Flensborg, 12 March 2026

Attacks on bilingual place-name signs in Burgenland: AGSM in FUEN expresses solidarity with the Croatian minority

The Working Group of Slavic Minorities (AGSM) of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) strongly condemns the attacks committed during the night of 28 February to 1 March 2026 in the Burgenland municipalities of Steinbrunn/Štikapron and Hornstein/Vorištan. Unknown perpetrators deliberately vandalised the Croatian-language place names on the bilingual place-name signs with black paint.

Bilingual place-name signs are a visible symbol of the constitutionally guaranteed rights of autochthonous minorities and of lived multilingualism. Those who deface them do not attack signs — they attack people, their identity, their history and their dignity. Such acts must neither be trivialised nor downplayed; they require consistent criminal prosecution and an unambiguous political response.

The AGSM of FUEN welcomes the determined reaction of the affected municipalities as well as the clear condemnation by the Coordination Committee of Croatian Associations and Organisations in Austria (Koordinacijski odbor hrvatskih društav i organizacijov u Austriji). We call on the federal and regional governments to make a clear commitment to the rights of national minorities and to ensure the swift restoration of the damaged signs.

Burgenland stands as a model region for the coexistence of several national minorities. The AGSM of FUEN stands in solidarity with the Croatian community in Burgenland.

For the Working Group of Slavic Minorities (AGSM) of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN)

Dr Hartmut Leipner

FUEN Vice President and Spokesperson of the AGSM