The importance of languages at international events is often overlooked. Language is not only a means of communication, but also plays a symbolic role as it expresses a country’s national identity and culture. In accordance with the act on public usage of Slovenian language, Slovenia presents itself in Slovenian at international contacts. The EU, on the other hand, encourages Slovenia and other Member States to be multilingual and prohibits any discrimination based on language in accordance with Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
The thesis examines the use of languages in Slovenian presidencies of the Council of the EU and protocol events with international participation. Based on the analysis of literature and data on international events obtained through interviews and an internship at the Protocol of the Republic of Slovenia, we learn about the functioning of the Protocol, which is responsible for organising such events, the relationship between languages at Slovenian presidencies of the Council of the EU and protocol events, and the existing guidelines that determine when and into which languages interpretation and translation is provided.
The research concludes that in international contacts, by the language policy of the Republic of Slovenia and the EU, Slovenia takes care of the functional relationship between the use of foreign languages, especially English as a modern lingua franca, and Slovene as the official and state language of Slovenia. There are also suggestions for changes that Slovenia and the Protocol could consider when organising protocol events with international participation, the next Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, and the promotion of the Slovenian language.
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